How they see
How does a butterfly see the world?
Up to 15 kinds of colour receptor
A butterfly may see more colours than almost any creature alive. Some species carry up to fifteen kinds of photoreceptor to our three, spread across compound eyes that span from ultraviolet to red. On a flower or a mate's wing, patterns bloom for the butterfly that stay completely hidden from us, especially in the ultraviolet.
See through their eyes
Human ≈ 60 cpd (20/10)
How sharp is a butterfly's vision?
Its eyes resolve about 1 cycles per degree (20/600 (est.)), while a human reaches around 60 cpd (20/10). Its field of view spans about 344°.
How does a butterfly see a human?
Its eyes resolve about 1 cycles per degree against your 60, so a face has to be roughly 60 times closer for it to pick out the detail you do. Your outline and your movement read clearly; your expression does not.
Colour comparison
How each colour shifts when seen through this animal's eyes, using the same colour model as the app. Tones a screen can't emit (such as ultraviolet) are shown as an approximation.
What colours can a butterfly see?
Extraordinary colour resolution — up to 15 receptor types — with ultraviolet wing patterns used for courtship.
Photoreceptors
Up to 15 photoreceptor classes (e.g. Graphium), UV-sensitive
Cone peak sensitivities
- UV360 nm
- Blue/violet440 nm
- Green530 nm
- Red610 nm
How does a butterfly see in the dark?
Day-active.
How does a butterfly's vision compare to a human's?
A butterfly's picture is coarse, around 20/600 to your 20/20. Its colour system, by contrast, dwarfs yours: up to fifteen receptor types against your three, reaching into ultraviolet you cannot see.
What is special about a butterfly's vision?
- Up to 15 photoreceptor classes
- UV wing signals
- Compound-eye panoramic field
What the research shows
Photoreceptor counts vary sharply between butterfly species. In the Common Bluebottle, Graphium sarpedon, Chen et al. (2016) identified 15 photoreceptor classes, the most then known in any insect, with peaks running from ultraviolet at roughly 310–360 nm through violet, blue, blue-green and green to red above 600 nm. In Papilio, Arikawa (2003) found about six: ultraviolet near 360 nm, violet near 400, blue near 460, green near 520 and red near 600 nm, plus a broadband class. Having many receptor classes is not the same as using them all for colour. Only about four appear to serve routine colour vision, while the rest seem tuned to particular tasks, such as picking out fast objects against the sky or coloured targets in foliage.
Spatial detail is the compound eye's weak point, and no behavioural value is cited here. The estimate is 0.5 to 1 cycle per degree, and the page lists 1 cpd, the top of that range. Flicker fusion is likewise estimated, at around 100 to 250 Hz, rather than measured, and some species also sense polarised light. Ultraviolet, polarization and a colour space with far more than three dimensions cannot be produced by three display primaries, so any on-screen version is an impression, not a reconstruction.
Guides: Animals that see ultraviolet · Which animal has the best eyesight? · All guides
Scientific sources
- Chen, Awata & Arikawa (2016)
- Koshitaka et al. (2008)
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