The fly abruptly dodges an object flying at it, the butterfly selects a certain flower, and the caterpillar creeps to the tallest tree. Some insects can detect only light and dark, and someone is well versed in shades. So how do insects see the world?

Ways to see the world in insects

Their ability to see is divided into three ways.

Whole body surface

An interesting feature in which it is not necessary to have eyes. But its big minus is that an insect can only distinguish light from darkness. It does not see any objects or colors. How does this work? Light passes through the cuticle, the outer layer of the skin, and penetrates the insect's head. There, a reaction occurs in the brain cells, and the insect realizes that light is falling on it. Such a device is not accessible to everyone, but it helps a lot those insects that live underground, for example, earthworms or blind cave beetles. Cockroaches, aphids and caterpillars have this kind of vision.

Simple eyes

Insects with simple eyes are more fortunate. They can not only determine darkness from light, but also distinguish between individual objects and even their shape. Such eyes are most often found in insect larvae. For example, mosquito larvae instead of eyes have age spots that trap light. But the caterpillars have five to six eyes on each side of the head. Thanks to this, she is well versed in forms. But she sees vertical objects much better than horizontal ones.For example, if she has to choose a tree, then she will rather crawl to what is higher, and not to what is wider.

Complicated, or faceted, eyes

Such eyes are most commonly found in adult insects. You can identify them immediately - usually they are on the sides of the head. Faceted eyes are much more complex and diverse than everyone else. They can recognize the shapes of objects and define colors. Some insects see well during the day, and others at night. An interesting feature of these eyes is that they do not see the whole picture as a whole, but only pieces. And already in the brain, the insect collects a puzzle from the obtained images to see the full picture. How does a fly manage to connect all pieces of a fragment in flight? Surprisingly, it is in flight that she sees better than at rest. And for the landing site, any insect is more likely to choose what moves or sways.

What colors do insects see?

Butterfly and bee fly to the red poppy. Although the structure of their eyes is similar, but they see this flower in different ways. The bee is not able to see the red color; it is like black for her. The whole world for her is reflected in only four colors - red-yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet and ultraviolet. But she distinguishes a red flower from others, because it reflects a lot of ultraviolet rays. A butterfly, on the contrary, flies to a flower because it sees red. Although she can also recognize ultraviolet rays, she rarely pays attention to them. Basically, a butterfly sees the world in the same colors as a person.

What forms can insects distinguish?

Insects live by instincts, and therefore they only see the shapes of objects that they need to survive. They are not interested in large merged objects, and they do not see the difference between a circle and a square. But they are very attracted to small and complex shapes, like drawings on paper. In addition, the vision of insects is much wider than that of humans. Although insects and myopia, but they can see and remember the shape, color and environment of objects.