Some animals have a “third eye”, and some spiders have as many as eight, but what about bees? A quick glance might lead you to answer “two”, and two pretty massive ones at that ...

Bees possess five eyes. The three ocelli are simple eyes that discern light intensity, while each of the two large compound eyes contains about 6,900 facets and is well suited for detecting movement.

Look closely at the head of a bee and you’ll see three tiny nubs like glassy marbles perched high between their large, faceted eyes. Though incapable of forming images, these “ocelli” track ...