WHY IS THE HEAD OF A DRAGONFLY FULL OF EYES?

The head of a green dragonfly with its prominent eyes.
N8_Dragonfly_2

The eyes of a dragonfly don't see a complete picture, the way human eyes do, but patterns, shapes, movements, and contrasts. Its eyes are sensitive—comprising of up to 30,000 hexagonal units, each functioning like an eye within an eye— to enable it to see prey such as a mosquito even in dim light. Almost 80% of its brain activity is devoted to eyesight, which allows it to see a mosquito flying about 20 meters away (approximately 60 feet).

Dragonfly with white wings and yellowish body
N8_Dragonfly_5

Its eyes also enable it to dart through blades of grass at high speeds without colliding into them. It can see up to 100 distinct images per second, which is five times the capacity of a human eye. Dragonflies make a mockery of ordinary movie cameras, which project only 24 images per second.

N8_Dragonfly_6
N8_Dragonfly_4

Recent posts

Diploptera punctuate cockroach's milk offers four times more nutrients than a cow's milk.

August 10, 2018
Wolf spiders prefer green color shades because it is more comfortable for them to catch prey and mate against green backgrounds.

August 8, 2018
Wrens are songbirds found in Australia, which are able to learn the language of other neighbors. Researchers taught the birds to recognize two previously unknown sounds to them as distress calls by playing them in conjunction with the wrens' alarm call, which the wrens associated with danger. After three days, the birds run for cover when they heard the strange sound they learned.

August 5, 2018

August 1, 2018
A lizard can shed off its tail when in danger.

July 29, 2018
Wolf spiders that live in the Arctic tundra enjoy eating the springtails, but spiders lose appetite them during summer the temperatures are warmer. The springtails feed on fungus, which in turn decomposes melting land matter to form form carbon dioxide and methane. The two gases are responsible to global warming, which means that the more wolf spiders feed on alternative food sources the better for global warming.

July 27, 2018

Join us on social media or subscribe!

Sign up to receive our articles in your inbox!

Enter your name and email address below to subscribe.