How does the yellow fever mosquito see?
The yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) is a insect in the order Diptera. Its eyes belong to the vision type Fast fly (slow-motion world).
Measured in this species: colour and sharpness. Measured colour or sharpness: a measured receptor set or acuity in this species; other dials come from relatives or group defaults. Every value below carries its evidence level and sources; nothing is typed by hand.
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What stands out
- It has two colour receptor classes (a dichromat): reds and greens fall on one axis, as in red-green colour blindness in people.
- Its sharpest vision resolves 0.08 cycles per degree: the finest stripe pattern it can tell apart from grey.
- It stops seeing flicker at 85 Hz, against 60 Hz for people in this dataset, so fast motion looks about 1.4 times slower to it.[8][6]
- Activity pattern: nocturnal.
The six dials
Evidence levels: how the tiers work. "Measured" means a value measured in this species; "Estimated" values come from a close relative or an eye-size formula.
| Dial | Value | Evidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colour | Colour receptors 2 receptor classes: 339 nm (UVS), 523 nm (MWS (green)) measured in this species | Measured | [1] |
| Ultraviolet yes: at least one receptor peaks in the ultraviolet | Measured | ||
| Sharpness | Acuity 0.08 cycles per degree median of 2 optical rows (method priority rule) | Measured | [2] |
| Angle between facets 6.2° minimum (acute-zone) interommatidial angle over sources; within caves2018: minimum (round-1 rule: mean of horizontal and vertical when both exist) | Measured | [2] | |
| Eye type compound eye | |||
| Field of view | No value in the catalogue. | ||
| Sharp zones (foveas) | Number of foveas 0 median of 91 relatives in order Diptera: Empis prodromus, Rhamphomyia albidiventris, Rhamphomyia breviventris, Rhamphomyia maculipennis, Rhamphomyia marginata, Rhamphomyia murina | Group default | [3] |
| Fovea type none | Group default | [3] | |
| Night vision | Activity pattern nocturnal mode of 2 relatives in family Culicidae: Anopheles gambiae, Culex quinquefasciatus | Estimated | [4] |
| Rods vs cones no rods (invertebrate photoreceptors) | Estimated | [4] | |
| Motion (flicker fusion) | Flicker fusion frequency 85 Hz median of 7 relatives in order Diptera: Drosophila melanogaster, Glossina pallidipes, Drosophila hydei, Glossina morsitans, Calliphora collini, Blaesoxipha migratoriae | Group default | [5][6][7] |
Related animals
- Fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) same vision type
- Housefly same vision type
- Blowfly (Calliphora vicina) same vision type
- Tsetse fly (Glossina pallidipes) same vision type
- Blowfly (Calliphora collini) same vision type
- Common green bottle fly same vision type
More insects: all insects with measured vision data.
Sources
- van der Kooi CJ, Stavenga DG, Arikawa K, Belusic G, Kelber A. 2021. Evolution of insect color vision: from spectral sensitivity to visual ecology. Annu Rev Entomol 66:435-461. Supplementary table. doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-061720-071644
- Caves EM, Brandley NC, Johnsen S (2018) Visual acuity and the evolution of signals. Trends Ecol Evol 33:358-372. Supplementary Tables S1-S3.. doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2018.03.001
- Comparative data for dance fly eye morphology and female ornamentation (Empididae). Data: Dryad doi:10.5061/dryad.rr4xgxd5z. doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rr4xgxd5z
- Feuda R, Marletaz F, Bentley MA, Holland PWH. 2016. Conservation, duplication, and divergence of five opsin genes in insect evolution. Genome Biol Evol 8:579-587
- Haarlem CS, Hynes C, Jackson AL, Mitchell KJ, O'Connell RG, Healy K. 2026. Pace of ecology drives the tempo of visual perception across the animal kingdom. Nature Ecology & Evolution (doi:10.1038/s41559-026-02994-7). Figshare dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.30556475. doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30556475
- Inger R, Bennie J, Davies TW, Gaston KJ. 2014. Potential biological and ecological effects of flickering artificial light. PLoS ONE 9(5): e98631. Table 3. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098631
- Lafitte A, Sordello R, Legrand M, Nicolas V, Obein G, Reyjol Y. 2022. A flashing light may not be that flashy: A systematic review on critical fusion frequencies. PLoS ONE 17(12): e0279718. S10 File (CFF database). doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279718
- Healy K, McNally L, Ruxton GD, Cooper N, Jackson AL. 2013. Metabolic rate and body size are linked with perception of temporal information. Animal Behaviour 86:685-696. Table 1. doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.06.018
Every value cites its sources (all sources). Data: catalogue-v1, built 2026-09-29. Accuracy notes: how accurate is this?