Was It Designed?

The Compound Eye

▪ “Layer upon layer of perfectly ordered structures.” That is how Professor Luke Lee of the University of California, U.S.A., describes the compound eye of many insects.

Consider: The compound eye of certain insects, such as the honeybee and the dragonfly, is made up of multiple optical units, each of which points in a different direction. The images produced by the individual lenses combine to create a wide mosaic view that is superb at detecting movement.

Scientists are exploring ways to mimic the compound eye of insects in order to make high-speed motion detectors and ultrathin multidirectional cameras. These could have a variety of applications. One use would be medical​—for example, to peer inside the stomach. This proposed medical device is described as a “tiny system” that can be swallowed by the patient. Once inside the stomach, the device would gather information through its compound eye and then communicate it wirelessly.

A team of bioengineers has already developed an artificial compound eye with more than 8,500 lenses that fit into a space no larger than a pinhead. This technology, however, pales in significance when compared with the compound eye found in the insect world. The dragonfly, for instance, has about 30,000 optical units in each eye!

Ask yourself: ‘Did this optical marvel, the multifaceted eye of insects, come about by chance? Or was it designed?’

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Magnified view of a section of a honeybee’s compound eye

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Background: © Stephen Dalton/​Photo Researchers, Inc.; close-up: © Raul Gonzalez Perez/​Photo Researchers, Inc.