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Fruit fly vision: the science and the numbers

Drosophila melanogaster · order Diptera · Insects: all the numbers

Fruit flies have 7 colour channels, including ultraviolet.[1][2][3][4][5] Their sharpest vision resolves 0.125 cycles per degree, against 63.75 for people in this dataset.[8] Fruit flies stop seeing flicker at 57 Hz, against 60 Hz for people.[27]

See it on your photoBack to How do fruit flies see?
  • 7colour receptor classesMeasured*
  • 0.125cycles per degree (sharpness)Measured
  • 57hertz flicker fusion (motion)Measured

The fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) is an insect in the order Diptera. Its eyes belong to the vision type Fast fly (slow-motion world): a compound eye with very fast motion vision, a panoramic field and low sharpness. Measured in this species: colour, sharpness, night vision and motion (flicker fusion). Measured core: measured values on at least 3 of the 6 dials.

This is a simulation built from published eye measurements, not what the animal experiences.

Method: How we know what animals see (the See Like Animals vision engine) · Sources · Last updated . Every value below carries its evidence level and sources; nothing is typed by hand.

What fruit flies see: colour receptors

Fruit fly colour receptor peaks, 300 to 700 nmFruit fly: 7 receptor peaks at 331, 345, 371.5, 440, 480, 508, 520 nm; you: 3 at 421.5, 532, 558.4 nm. ultraviolet300400500600700
Fruit fly: 331, 345, 371.5, 440, 480, 508, 520 nmPeople: 421.5, 532, 558.4 nmWavelength in nanometres

What stands out

  • It has 7 colour receptor classes, including ultraviolet; people have 3.
  • Its sharpest vision resolves 0.125 cycles per degree: the finest stripe pattern it can tell apart from grey.
  • It stops seeing flicker at 57 Hz, against 60 Hz for people in this dataset, so fast motion looks about the same.[28][29]
  • Activity pattern: diurnal.

The six dials

Evidence levels: how the tiers work. "Measured" means a value measured in this species; "Estimated" values come from a close relative or an eye-size formula. The last column gives the values for people from the same catalogue.

Vision values for the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) (Drosophila melanogaster), catalogue-v1
DialValueEvidenceSourcesPeople
ColourColour receptors
7 receptor classes: 331 nm (UVS), 345 nm (UVS), 371.5 nm (UVS), 440 nm (SWS (blue)), 480 nm (MWS (green)), 508 nm (MWS (green)), 520 nm (MWS (green))
measured in this species
Measured (not re-verified)[1][2][3][4][5]Colour receptors: 3 receptor classes: 421.5 nm (VS/SWS (violet)), 532 nm (MWS (green)), 558.4 nm (LWS (long)) Measured (not re-verified)[2][4][6][7]
Ultraviolet
yes: at least one receptor peaks in the ultraviolet		Measured (not re-verified)
SharpnessAcuity
0.125 cycles per degree
median of 2 optical rows (method priority rule)
Measured[8]Acuity: 63.75 cycles per degree Measured[9][10]
Angle between facets
3.38°
minimum (acute-zone) interommatidial angle over sources; within caves2018: minimum (round-1 rule: mean of horizontal and vertical when both exist)
Measured[8]
Eye type
compound eye
Field of viewNo value in the catalogue.Binocular overlap: 122.5° Measured[11][12]
Total field of view: 200° Measured (not re-verified)[13]
Blind area behind the head: 160° Derived[13]
Eye placement: frontal Derived[11][12]
Sharp zones (foveas)Number of foveas
0
median of 90 relatives in order Diptera: Empis prodromus, Rhamphomyia albidiventris, Rhamphomyia breviventris, Rhamphomyia maculipennis, Rhamphomyia marginata, Rhamphomyia murina
Group default[14]Number of foveas: 1 Measured[15]
Fovea type: fovea Measured[15]
Fovea type
none		Group default[14]
Night visionActivity pattern
diurnal
tie ['diurnal', 'nocturnal'] broken by species-level studies (round-3 tie-break rule 2) (of 2 rows): diurnal; nocturnal
Measured[16][2]Activity pattern: diurnal Measured (not re-verified)[17][18][19][2][20][21][22][23]
Pupil shape: vertical Group default[24][25]
Reflective layer (tapetum): no Measured[26]
Rods vs cones: cone-dominated Derived[17][18][19][2][20][21][22][23]
Rods vs cones
no rods (invertebrate photoreceptors)
nocturnal -> rod-dominated; crepuscular / cathemeral / mixed -> mixed; diurnal -> cone-dominated
Derived[16][2]
Motion (flicker fusion)Flicker fusion frequency
57 Hz
median of 1 rows (no bright-light flag) (behavioural/whole-eye ERG rows; all rows: [57.0])
Measured[27]Flicker fusion frequency: 60 Hz Measured[28][29]

All insects side by side: Insects: every measurement. Method: how we know what animals see.

Sources

  1. VPOD in-vivo (MSP / single-cell) lambda… 2025
  2. Longcore 2023
  3. van der Kooi CJ, Stavenga DG… 2021
  4. Kirwan
  5. Porter et al. 2006
  6. Müller et al. 2009
  7. Thermal Activation and Photoactivation of Visual… 2004
  8. Caves et al. 2018
  9. Kirk et al. 2004
  10. Veilleux et al. 2014
  11. Heesy 2004
  12. Heffner et al. 1992
  13. Campbell & Green 1965
  14. Comparative data for dance fly eye…
  15. Kopania et al. 2025
  16. Feuda et al. 2016
  17. Anderson et al. 2017
  18. Borges et al. 2018
  19. Wilman et al. 2014
  20. Maor et al. 2017
  21. Jones et al. 2009
  22. Schmitz et al. 2011
  23. Moura et al. 2024
  24. Banks et al. 2015
  25. Cervino et al. 2021
  26. Guareschi et al. 2025
  27. Lafitte et al. 2022
  28. Healy et al. 2013
  29. Inger et al. 2014

Every value cites its sources (all sources). Values were extracted from these works and converted (units, medians, derived values); changes are ours, and the listed sources do not endorse this site. Data: catalogue-v1, built 2026-09-29. Accuracy notes: how accurate is this? Method: how we know.