How Do Dragonflies See?

image credit

Let me remind you not to sneak up on the Dragonfly because it escapes so fast that you would think the insect has eyes in the back of its head! 

Dragonflies are ferocious hunters that catch other insects in mid-air. To do this they need to be skillful flyers and to have excellent vision. A Dragonfly’s eyes allow it to see all around. An insects eye works in a different way to our own. Dragonflies have compound eyes – each an array of up to 28.500 smaller units. Each unit has its own lens and forms an image. The Dragonfly’s brain merges the many images into one composite picture of its surroundings. Compound eyes are especially good at picking up something that is moving. 

Did you know? 

Dragonflies are the closest thing the natural world has got to a helicopter. The insects do not simply flap their wings, but twist them back and forth to create a little vortex, or whirlwind, that lifts the insect.