How Bugs See Updated Thursday, February 17, 2005 Bugs see differently that we do. They have compound eyes that specialize in detecting movement. Compound eyes are composed of hundreds of tiny hexagonal units called ommatidium. In addition to compound yeese, insects have 3 simplified eyes called ocelli. The compound eyes detect detail poorly. Scientists believe ocelli are used to differentiate shade and sunlight. We looked through lenses designed to help students understand what bugs see. We looked at our fast plant flowers and pretended we were bees moving from blossom to blossom. fastplants 3 day 14 fastplants 3 flowers day 14 fastplant with clear lens fastplant with ommatidium viewing lens fastplant with ocelli viewing lens Created with Photo Finale