Damselfly’s have short antennae, so vision is their primary means of navigating and capturing food.
Their eyes are made up of thousands of ommatidia (telescope-shaped clusters of photoreceptor cells) that resemble a honeycomb. These collect light and signals that, when they are processed by the brain, can produce a clearer and less pixilated image than in other smaller-eyed insects. While dragons’ eyes are on the front of the head, damsels’ are on the sides. This may give less frontal vision for the zoom-and-swoop attack, but allows all-around – including above and behind – the perception of their aerospace. This is vital for hovering insects, especially damselflies, which often travel among the herbage rather than skimming the water or flying in the open.