How many eyes does an insect have?

Insects come in a lot of shapes and sizes, but one thing's pretty easy to remember: Insects have two eyes except for when they don't...

Okay, my introduction on this page wasn't very helpful. Some insects have five eyes while most don't have that many. What makes it a bit complicated is that insects have two types of eyes: compound eyes and simple eyes. Some have one type, and some have both types of eyes.

I'll start with compound eyes because they’re usually the first ones you notice. The photo below shows the surface of a typical insect's compound eye. You can see its surface is covered with lots of facets. Each one of those facets is a lens. With all of those lenses working at once the insect would be able to see in almost every direction without moving its head.

Now look at the photo of the fly below. The big, red compound eyes are clearly visible on each side of its head.

Scientists believe those compound eyes would provide the fly a crisp, detailed view of the things nearby. However, they also believe that as things get further away from the fly, they would become less clear. So the idea is that the compound eyes give sharp images of things up close and a blurred view of stuff in the distance.

In the photo below you can, once again, easily see the big compound eyes. But in between those two compound eyes is a triangular formation of dots. Those dots are the simple eyes, visible inside the white rectangle. Insects can have as many as three simple eyes, like this fly does. Scientists believe those simple eyes would not be so good at seeing detail, but helpful in seeing movement.

In the next shot I zoomed in on that area inside the white rectangle, to give you a better look.

So that’s five eyes on the fly. Have a look at the photo below and you'll see there are five eyes on this European Wasp too.

I started this by saying insects come in lots of shapes and sizes. That kind of diversity applies to insect sight too. For example, it is believed that some insects see colours and some don't. Some have small eyes, while a dragonfly has huge compound eyes covering most of its head. Those elaborate compound eyes on the dragonfly would help it fly with a lot of precision and with lots of speed, seeing other insects and not bumping into things.

So now we know all that stuff, how many eyes do insects have? The answer is: usually two, but sometimes as many as five.

How many eyes do spiders have?

A dragonfly's compound eyes can cover most of its head

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