Compound eyes of insects are very interesting. We can apply in our technology for improvement and derive the benefits

1. Insect Inspired technology

2. There are over 700, 000 species of insects. They are well
adapted for their environment. All insects grow from eggs.
They go through various stages until they reach adulthood.
This transformation through these stages is called
metamorphosis.

3. Insects are the most diverse group of organisms
on earth.
Insects belong to class Insecta and belong to the
phylum Arthropoda.
They are cold blooded.
Their body is covered with exoskeleton made of
a substance called chitin

4. Parts of an Insect

6. The head contains the
feelers (antennae), eyes
and mouth.

7. The legs and wings are fastened
to the thorax. It contains the
main muscles so that the insect
can run, fly, swim, or walk.

8. The abdomen is where the stomach
is and where the eggs are produced.
Some insects have a stinger at the tip
of the abdomen.

9. They have one pair of antennae
which help them to find food.

10. They have no lungs but they have
small openings on their bodies.

13. Flies and Mosquitoes are commonly found insects.
They cause Infectious diseases like Malaria, Cholera,
dysentery etc. We have to keep our surroundings
clean to prevent such vector borne diseases.

14. Ants, Bees, Termites and Wasps are the Social
Insects They share the work & they live in colonies.

15. All insects have compound eyes.
Compound eyes are the wonderful
creation of nature. Compound eyes have
many lenses for each eye.

16. Structure of Compound Eyes

17. Compound eyes are made up of clusters of photoreceptor units, called
ommatidium. Each ommatidium consists of:
 A lens and a transparent crystalline cone that reflects and focuses light.
 Light-sensitive visual cells arranged in a radial pattern like the sections of
an orange.

18.  Pigment cells, ensure that when the light is entering the ommatidium parallel, it
reaches the visual cells and triggers nerve impulses.
 Pigment cells and visual cells within the ommatidium detect light levels and color.
 The pigment connected to nerve fibers lead to the optic nerve, transmits
impulses to the visual processing area of the brain.

20.  The more ommatidia a compound eye has, the greater the resolution and
each ommatidium functions separately.
 There may be thousands of ommatidia in a compound eye.
 The compound eye is so structured that each ommatidium is pointed slightly
in different directions. This allows for a wider view..
Salient Features of Compound Eyes

21.  Each ommatidium will transmit information from just one small area within that
field.
 The brain will then assemble the impulses from all of the ommatidia to form a
composite image of its surroundings.
 The compound eyes of insects allow them to have panoramic vision because the
individual ommatidia provide fragments of an image that are then simultaneously
combined to rapidly build up a larger overall picture.

22.  Compound eyes produce images that are a mosaic composed of many dots.
 When an object moves across a compound eye's field of vision, the ommatidia are
turned off or on, producing a flicker effect.
 Some compound eyes have ommatidia that contain two or more pigments.
Species with that kind of compound eye have some color vision.
 Some compound eyes have pigments that can detect ultraviolet light also.

23. Compound Eyes have Wide Angle View

24. Can the insects see colors?
Almost all insects can perceive the complete
spectrum of colors.
They can also discriminate between single
colors and mixtures of colors.
Their eyes contain two types of visual
pigments.
One pigment absorbs green and yellow light.
The other pigment absorbs blue and ultraviolet
light.
Insects can not see red light.

25.  Most of the insects perceive UV-Yellow
color combination.
 The UV- Yellow combination appears as
blue- green color.
 White flowers appear blue to their eyes.

26. We see as yellow colored flowers as yellow but the
insect sees two tone colors

27. Insects see two different color tones

28. Humans see this way Insects see this way

29. How are the compound eyes useful in Modern Technology?
1.The drones are used in surveillance systems in unmanned
flying vehicles or spy satellites.
Lenses can be made just like compound eyes of insects. Such lenses
can be used in the cameras. Such cameras can be used in Drones

30. 2.The compound eye lenses can be fitted in the cameras
of Artificial Earth Satellites for detecting natural
resources like minerals, oil etc.

31. 3.The compound eye lenses can be fitted with in the cameras of
endoscopes to give a clear picture about our internal organs so that
pin hole surgeries can be performed by doctors very effectively.

32. Placing the compound eye lens in the Eyepiece of the
Endoscope give the Doctors a wide angle view

33. 4.Honey Bees are endangered.
Robot Bees can be developed to pollinate flowers and
field crops. They can be used in search and rescue
tasks. They can also be used for environment
exploration, military surveillance, climate and traffic
monitoring.

34. 5. Military guns of the future may be fitted with compound
eye lenses in the camera so that future wars will be Techno
Wars.

35. 6.Future Fighter Planes also will have their
cameras fitted with compound eye lenses.

37. Nano Drones with compound eye- lenses can be
used to detect intestinal obstructions and other
diseases

38. 8.Micro Drones can be let in the blood stream to cure Atherosclerosis
and to remove blockages in the Arteries and to prevent Heart Attacks.
Micro Drones will also remove the plaque formation in the arteries
and hence prevent heart disease due to hyper- lipidaemia.

39. The uniqueness of our planet is interdependency of
species for mutual survival. The earth, its
biodiversity can survive only if the individual
species survive.

40. We can innovate several sustainable technological
applications to better our lives, only when we learn and
understand the importance of other organisms in our
Bio- Diversity.

41. Study Nature.
Understand Nature.
Love Nature.
Stay close to Nature.
Learn from Nature

42. All images are taken from :https://www.google.co.in/images
Presentation Created by : Kausalya Janardanan
26/02/2016