They see above their heads.
Some things are just cool.
Unlike humans, bees have a dorsal visual field that enables them to avoid obstacles above their heads. Until now, it was not known whether this helped them to control their flight speed. Recent research by biorobotics specialists at the Institut des sciences du mouvement (CNRS / Université de la Méditerranée) confirms that it does. Bees have been shown to adjust their speed according to obstacle proximity, whether such obstacles are in the horizontal or vertical plane. They achieve this through perceived optic flow, especially from overhead.
Advertisement