Fly Eyes Facts: Delve Into A Deep Understanding of Fly's Vision!

Rajnandini Roychoudhury
Mar 27, 2023 By Rajnandini Roychoudhury
Originally Published on Nov 23, 2021
Edited by Lara Simpson
Fact-checked by Niyati Parab
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Close up of fly's eyes

Insects have different eyes in comparison to humans.

Insects have compound eyes rather than two simple eyes, as seen in most animals. This eye contains thousands of eyes, each combined together.

Flies have two compound eyes, which help them in viewing the entire surrounding to its minuscule detail. Flies are short-sighted animals by nature and cannot see objects that are far away from them.

However, as they have thousands of simple eyes, each forming their own individual image in the fly's brain, a complete 360-degree view of the surrounding is perceived and observed by a fly. This is beneficial for these tiny insects. The slightest change in their surrounding can be observed, which helps them to flee from their predators.

If you find this content on a fly's vision interesting, then do check out the articles, fly facts, and frog skeleton.

How are fly eyes and mouse eyes different or similar?

Mammal eyes, like that of mice, and fly eyes, have few similarities and many differences. For example, the number of images detected by the brain is many for both, but different. They both see colors, but one more than the other.

Mice have small eyes on either side of their faces. On the other hand, flies have two large compound eyes on their head.

The compound eyes are comprised of numerous lenses and thus act as a single giant eye. The working principle of the compound eye is extremely magnificent. Thousand of individual lenses capture thousands of pictures together.

Then these images are processed together in the fly's brain to form a highly detailed image of the surrounding effectively. The probable reason as to why a fly has a compound eye is mainly due to the living conditions of the organism.

A fly has to gather food and escape the sight of its predators effectively, and for that, the organism would need a very powerful eye.

A fly's eye is extremely powerful as it can process up to 80 images instantly, while a human can only process 24 different images. This helps the fly to detect the very smallest of movements in a wide field of sight.

The compound eye can help the fly species observe polarized light, but it also helps them observe the spectrum that is not in the visible range of human beings.

Science researches have yielded a strange fact about the fly's eye. Though a mammal's eyes are entirely different from that of an insect, there are some similarities between the eyes of mice and that of a fly.

It has been found out that almost 65% of retinal genes that are found in the eye of a mouse are present in the eyes of a fly.

What does it look like through fly eyes?

People have often wondered what it looks like from the eye of a fly, and here we will find out precisely what a fly or a killer fly sees during its flight.

Humans fond of photography often use a wide number of lenses or lenses in their cameras to click better pictures. Some often use different types of filters along with lenses to bring about a different perspective of their photography.

This is often seen when someone uses a lens that depicts a birds-eye view or a lens that depicts a fish's eye view. Just like that, the perspective of the eye view of a fly is also different compared to other creatures.

Unlike humans, flies have thousands of eyes. They are known as compound eyes.

All those single individual eyes behave as one single unit and give a complete spherical view to the insect.

The image that a fly observes can be brought in comparison to looking into a mosaic. Multiple images converge to form an image altogether.

However, it must be noted that flies are short-sighted insects and can very well see things or objects in their vicinity but cannot clearly see the objects located far away. The short-sightedness acts as a boon for these insects as they can observe their surroundings exceedingly well, detect the slightest movements, and thus can effectively flee from their predators.

Drosophila Fruit Fly Diptera Insect on Plant.

How do flies' eyes work?

The working of each eye, be that a complex eye or simple eyes differs from organism to organism and thus depends on many factors. Here we will understand the working principle of the fly's eyes.

Though a fruit fly might have around 750 simple eyes combined to form one mega compound eye, these eyes have specific differences compared to our own eyes. First of all, since the eyes of flies, like that of the killer fly, are devoid of pupils, they cannot regulate the exact amount of light that enters their eyes, unlike humans.

Moreover, flies are short-sighted in nature, which means they can easily see objects near them.

However, owing to the science and the structure of these eyes that are present on the insect's head, these animals cannot see objects that are far away from them. Though killer flies have the fastest vision among all animals in the world, it doesn't necessarily mean that they can observe every moving object.

The structure of the fly-eye is much evolved and can easily recognize or follow a motion, but by following the motion, they are quite incapable of observing moving objects.

Flies also have limited color vision owing to the presence of the pigment cells in their eyes.

Every eye contains individual visual receptors that help them form a complete image in its brain. The accumulation of every image captured by the fly forms a complete spherical-shaped image covering a 360-degree view.

What color do flies hate?

There are different regions in the color spectrum capable of having different results when observed by an observer. The same applies to flies as well. Here we will study the colors that flies hate.

Each color has different reactions when perceived by an individual, which brings us to favoritism. Every human being has their favorite color and also some colors that they hate.

The usual science being the same leads to the subject of perceptiveness. If an insect can perceive a particular color from its numerous lenses and has no adverse effect on its brain, then that is not a color the insect will hate.

Animals respond to the color spectrum in different ways, and the same applies to flies.

Science researches have yielded that flies particularly hate the yellow color. Apart from yellow, these animals also hate the yellow-green color combination as these colors typically repel flies to maximum effect.

It is noteworthy that flies have two types of color receptor cells and can see only two colors: ultraviolet and green. This essentially means they have trouble distinguishing between the colors such as white and yellow.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for fly eyes facts: delve into a deep understanding of fly's vision!

then why not take a look at explore main insect body parts facts about most insects for kids! or the sunshine period: must-know facts on importance of summer season.

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Written by Rajnandini Roychoudhury

Bachelor of Arts specializing in English, Master of Arts specializing in English

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Rajnandini RoychoudhuryBachelor of Arts specializing in English, Master of Arts specializing in English

With a Master of Arts in English, Rajnandini has pursued her passion for the arts and has become an experienced content writer. She has worked with companies such as Writer's Zone and has had her writing skills recognized by publications such as The Telegraph. Rajnandini is also trilingual and enjoys various hobbies such as music, movies, travel, philanthropy, writing her blog, and reading classic British literature. 

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Fact-checked by Niyati Parab

Bachelor of Commerce

Niyati Parab picture

Niyati ParabBachelor of Commerce

With a background in digital marketing, Niyati brings her expertise to ensure accuracy and authenticity in every piece of content. She has previously written articles for MuseumFacts, a history web magazine, while also handling its digital marketing. In addition to her marketing skills, Niyati is fluent in six languages and has a Commerce degree from Savitribai Phule Pune University. She has also been recognized for her public speaking abilities, holding the position of Vice President of Education at the Toastmasters Club of Pune, where she won several awards and represented the club in writing and speech contests at the area level.

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