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Housefly vision: the science and the numbers

Musca domestica · order Diptera · Insects: all the numbers

Flies have 5 colour channels, including ultraviolet.[1][2][3] Their sharpest vision resolves 0.2 cycles per degree, against 63.75 for people in this dataset.[7] Flies stop seeing flicker at 83.3 Hz, against 60 Hz for people.[25]

See it on your photoBack to How do flies see?
  • 5colour receptor classesMeasured*
  • 0.2cycles per degree (sharpness)Measured
  • 83.3hertz flicker fusion (motion)Measured

The housefly (Musca domestica) 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 flies see: colour receptors

Housefly colour receptor peaks, 300 to 700 nmHousefly: 5 receptor peaks at 335, 355, 460, 490, 530 nm; you: 3 at 421.5, 532, 558.4 nm. ultraviolet300400500600700
Housefly: 335, 355, 460, 490, 530 nmPeople: 421.5, 532, 558.4 nmWavelength in nanometres

Do flies see in slow motion?

Partly. The housefly stops seeing flicker at 83.3 Hz in this catalogue, against 60 Hz for people, and the western honey bee at 220 Hz.[25] The often-quoted 250 Hz is not the housefly value in this catalogue.

What stands out

  • It has 5 colour receptor classes, including ultraviolet; people have 3.
  • Its sharpest vision resolves 0.2 cycles per degree: the finest stripe pattern it can tell apart from grey.
  • It stops seeing flicker at 83.3 Hz, against 60 Hz for people in this dataset, so fast motion looks about 1.4 times slower to it.[26][27]
  • 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 housefly (Musca domestica), catalogue-v1
DialValueEvidenceSourcesPeople
ColourColour receptors
5 receptor classes: 335 nm (UVS), 355 nm (UVS), 460 nm (SWS (blue)), 490 nm (MWS (green)), 530 nm (MWS (green))
measured in this species
Measured (not re-verified)[1][2][3]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][5][6]
Ultraviolet
yes: at least one receptor peaks in the ultraviolet		Measured (not re-verified)
SharpnessAcuity
0.2 cycles per degree
median of 1 optical rows (method priority rule); facet_diameter_um: only male rows exist (male value used, labelled); interommatidial_angle_deg: male / drone rows set aside (labelled alternative: 1.75, 3.5)
Measured[7]Acuity: 63.75 cycles per degree Measured[8][9]
Angle between facets
2.5°
minimum (acute-zone) interommatidial angle over sources; within caves2018: minimum (round-1 rule: mean of horizontal and vertical when both exist); interommatidial_angle_deg: male / drone rows set aside (labelled…
Measured[7]
Eye type
compound eye
Field of viewNo value in the catalogue.Binocular overlap: 122.5° Measured[10][11]
Total field of view: 200° Measured (not re-verified)[12]
Blind area behind the head: 160° Derived[12]
Eye placement: frontal Derived[10][11]
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[13]Number of foveas: 1 Measured[14]
Fovea type: fovea Measured[14]
Fovea type
none		Group default[13]
Night visionActivity pattern
diurnal
mode of 1 rows (of 1 rows): diurnal
Measured[2]Activity pattern: diurnal Measured (not re-verified)[15][16][17][2][18][19][20][21]
Pupil shape: vertical Group default[22][23]
Reflective layer (tapetum): no Measured[24]
Rods vs cones: cone-dominated Derived[15][16][17][2][18][19][20][21]
Rods vs cones
no rods (invertebrate photoreceptors)
nocturnal -> rod-dominated; crepuscular / cathemeral / mixed -> mixed; diurnal -> cone-dominated
Derived[2]
Motion (flicker fusion)Flicker fusion frequency
83.3 Hz
median of 1 rows (no bright-light flag) (behavioural/whole-eye ERG rows; all rows: [83.3])
Measured[25]Flicker fusion frequency: 60 Hz Measured[26][27]

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

Sources

  1. Kelber et al. 2003
  2. Longcore 2023
  3. van der Kooi CJ, Stavenga DG… 2021
  4. Kirwan
  5. Müller et al. 2009
  6. Thermal Activation and Photoactivation of Visual… 2004
  7. Caves et al. 2018
  8. Kirk et al. 2004
  9. Veilleux et al. 2014
  10. Heesy 2004
  11. Heffner et al. 1992
  12. Campbell & Green 1965
  13. Comparative data for dance fly eye…
  14. Kopania et al. 2025
  15. Anderson et al. 2017
  16. Borges et al. 2018
  17. Wilman et al. 2014
  18. Maor et al. 2017
  19. Jones et al. 2009
  20. Schmitz et al. 2011
  21. Moura et al. 2024
  22. Banks et al. 2015
  23. Cervino et al. 2021
  24. Guareschi et al. 2025
  25. Haarlem et al. 2026
  26. Healy et al. 2013
  27. 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.