Image #299 – Our Next Move

A Dragonfly ponders its next move, perched on a tree branch.  The complexity of this creature is overwhelming to me: four separate wings that are so sheer you can see through them and a “head” that is mostly eyes and those eyes, so I am told, do not see the world as we do.  Consider this paragraph from New Scientist:

We humans have what’s known as tri-chromatic vision, which means we see colours as a combination of red, blue and green. This is thanks to three different types of light-sensitive proteins in our eyes, called opsins. We are not alone: di-, tri- and tetra-chromatic vision is de rigueur in the animal world, from mammals to birds and insects.

Enter the dragonfly. A study of 12 dragonfly species has found that each one has no fewer than 11, and some a whopping 30, different visual opsins.

The dragonfly’s world is a multi-color, psychedelic landscape that is, of course, perfectly normal to the dragonfly.  How dull our world would be to this marvelous being. ❦