Can neural pooling help insects see at night?

Neural pooling of signals generated in the photoreceptors of neighbouring ommatidia is investigated as a possible strategy for improving vision at low light levels in compound eyes. Theoretical calculations of the maximum spatial frequency detectable by an eye suggest that neural pooling greatly improves vision in dim light. This strategy is particularly useful for an insect such as the locust which is primarily day-active, has an eye design more suited to bright light (the apposition design), but often flies in the evening. Nevertheless, compound eyes primarily designed for nocturnal vision (superposition eyes) are found to out-perform neurally pooled apposition eyes in dim light, a situation which is most likely reversed in bright light when the apposition eye ceases to pool, thereby greatly improving spatial resolution