How Many Eyes Does a Fly Have?
WouterFlies are arthropods, which means they are animals that move. They are about 0.5 cm long and have faceted eyes. Their faceted eyes help them see different colors and draw attention to them. These creatures are studied by scientists for improving robotic technologies. To answer the question, you must first understand their eyes.
The eyes of flies are composed of thousands of individual visual receptors. These cells are called ommatidia. Combined, the ommatidia form a mosaic-like image that allows the fly to see movement in its environment. The more ommatidia the fly has, the clearer its image will be.
In addition to having nearly 360-degree vision, flies also have sensory organs. Their wings and halteres are also used for taste. These sensory organs need to be processed by the fly’s brain, which contains 100 000 neurons. It is also important to remember that while caterpillars splatter a greenish-red goo, flies splat a red substance, which is the hemolymph. This substance is not like the blood of humans or most other animals, because it lacks red blood cells.
Most arthropods have compound eyes, which consist of thousands of photoreceptors. They use these to help them see in three dimensions. Their eyes are also short-sited, so they don’t have a pupil. While simple eyes are more suited for detecting changes in light intensity, compound eyes are more efficient at detecting movement in their surroundings.
