Ask Dr. Universe: Do spiders have good eyesight?

Dr-Universe-230PULLMAN, Wash. – Most spiders have quite a few eyes, but they usually can’t see very well. Then again, seeing isn’t everything.

That’s what I found out when I went to visit my friend Rich Zack, a scientist at Washington State University who knows a lot about insects and spiders.

Zack explained that spiders have a number of small lenses on the top of their heads. These simple lenses let them see changes in light and dark. It’s probably a pretty blurry view, he said.

There are more than 40,000 spider species on Earth. We can often identify a spider by counting its eyes and seeing how they are arranged.

Read all of the answer from Dr. Universe here.

 

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