The eyes have it.
Look at the compound eyes of an insect. Some are colorful, some are drab. But they are all organs that detect light.
Most insects "have some sight and many possess highly developed visual systems," write UC Davis entomology professors Penny Gullan and Pete Cranston in the fourth edition of their textbook, The Insects: An Outline of Entomology, published by Wiley-Blackwell earlier this year.
"Virtually all adult insects and nymphs have a pair of large, prominent compound eyes, which often cover nearly 360 degrees of visual space," they point out.
If you're studying to be an entomologist--or thinking about entomology as a career--you can learn more about how "the basic components needed for vision are a lens to focus light onto photoreceptors--cells containing light-sensitive molecules--and a nervous system complex enough to process visual information."
If you're photographing insects, you know how quickly they detect movement. Cast your shadow on them and off they go. Move closer and off they go.
Sometimes it's a challenge, but in the end, the eyes have it.
Attached Images:
![EYES of the blow fly glowing red in the sunlight. This fly is perched on yarrow. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) EYES of the blow fly glowing red in the sunlight. This fly is perched on yarrow. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/4283.jpg)
Blow Fly
![EYES of a honey bee are rimmed with hair. This worker bee is nectaring lavender (and keeping a close eye out on the photographer). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) EYES of a honey bee are rimmed with hair. This worker bee is nectaring lavender (and keeping a close eye out on the photographer). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/4290.jpg)
Honey Bee
![EYES of yellow-faced bumble bee scan the horizon. This is a Bombus vosnesenskii atop catmint. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) EYES of yellow-faced bumble bee scan the horizon. This is a Bombus vosnesenskii atop catmint. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/4291.jpg)
Yellow-Faced Bumble Bee
![EYES of a metallic green sweat bee are rimmed in fluorescent green. This is a male sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus (as identified by native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp of UC Davis). It is on a seaside daisy at Tomales Bay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) EYES of a metallic green sweat bee are rimmed in fluorescent green. This is a male sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus (as identified by native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp of UC Davis). It is on a seaside daisy at Tomales Bay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/4293.jpg)
Metallic Green Sweat Bee
![EYES of a leafcutter bee peer over rock purslane. This is a male Megachile sp. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) EYES of a leafcutter bee peer over rock purslane. This is a male Megachile sp. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/4294.jpg)
Leafcutter Bee