The ability to see color is rare in insects and vertebrates, and the human eye is one of the most sophisticated in its ability to see different hues, vividness and shadings. It is similar to that of most mammals, or to color-blind humans, except the frequency response is shifted toward the ultraviolet. Bees get to see in the ultraviolet world. How Do We See Color? Most adult insects have 3, Caterpillars may have 6, but these organs do not enjoy the sophistication of our own. It is made up of many tiny segments called ommatidia and is capable of seeing in perfect full colour. While an insect compound eye has the capability to see color if it contains corresponding sensor cells, most insects can only see light and dark. Shares. How do we see color? Students intrigued by the way the ants' bodies visibly soaked up the color in Dr. Babu's photos, might experiment with local ants to see if they have similarly translucent body parts. We can use photographic techniques to mimic that world, but all resulting colors are approximations of what a bee MIGHT see. Bees also have the ability to see color much faster than humans. Night-flying insects, by contrast, find blue, violet, and ultra violet much more alluring. David Jarriault, a neurobiologist at the University of Otago, responded. By Stephanie Pappas - Live Science Contributor 29 April 2010. Blue, violet and purple are seen as a second color. Animals that see in black and white, along with shades of gray, are animals have different cone cells in their eyes that respond to light wavelengths in these colorless tones. Indeed, most insects do see colours. They can also see blue-green, blue, violet, and “bee’s purple.” Bee’s purple is a combination of yellow and ultraviolet light. Some studies propose that honeybees see orange, yellow, and green as one color (green in that group surprised me). Some musings, and studies, on what colors bee see would be a bit more interesting. Some flowers that look the same to us are radically different in ultraviolet, and insect can tell them apart (bees rely on UV to find flowers that may be not colorful enough to catch the attention in … ... Monkeys, ground squirrels, birds, insects, and many fish can see a fairly good range of color. To the human eye, a garden in bloom is a riot of colour. Bear in mind that not all the studies agree on the exact colors or preferences bees see, but they all agree red is black. Most insects are unable to see light with a wavelength longer than 650 nanometers; red light is invisible to a moth, and yellow light, at about 580 nanometers, is difficult for most insects to see. Yes, although the colours they see may be radically different from what we percieve. The compound eye - the classic insect eye that everybody imagines, is a different matter altogether.