Simple eye in invertebrates

A simple eye or ocellus (sometimes called a pigment pit) is a form of <a href="/facts/Eye/h3lbYU55">eye</a> or an optical arrangement which has a single lens without the sort of elaborate <a href="/facts/Retina/v0ISNX2S">retina</a> that occurs in most <a href="/facts/Vertebrate/tT54FSTT">vertebrates</a>. These eyes are called "simple" to distinguish them from "<a href="/facts/Compound_eye/yoRE9HWY">compound eyes</a>", which have multiple lenses. They are not necessarily simple in the sense of being uncomplicated or basic. 
The structure of an animal's eye is determined by the environment in which it lives, and the behavioural tasks it must fulfill to survive. <a href="/facts/Arthropod/JKJLTFzp">Arthropods</a> differ widely in the habitats in which they live, as well as their visual requirements for finding food or <a href="/facts/Conspecifics/9LRI9yyR">conspecifics</a>, and avoiding predators. Consequently, <a href="/facts/Arthropod_eye/J9S3QKdT">an enormous variety of eye types are found in arthropods</a> to overcome visual problems or limitations.
Use of the term simple eye is flexible, and must be interpreted in proper context; for example, the eyes of most large animals are <a href="/facts/Eye/h3lbYU55">camera eyes</a> and are sometimes considered "simple" because a single lens collects and focuses an entire image onto the <a href="/facts/Retina/v0ISNX2S">retina</a> (analogous to a <a href="/facts/Camera/j4uqsfJQ">camera</a>). By other criteria, the presence of a complex retina distinguishes the vertebrate camera eye from the simple stemma or <a href="/facts/Ommatidium/T2jummw4">ommatidia</a> which make up compound eyes. Additionally, not all invertebrate ocelli and ommatidium have simple <a href="/facts/Photoreceptor_cell/Ap0DcW5N">photoreceptors</a>. Many have various forms of retinula (a retina-like cluster of photoreceptor cells), including the ommatidia of most insects and the central eyes of <a href="/facts/Solifugae/mJ4r0p6y">camel spiders</a>. <a href="/facts/Salticidae/gjlule5d">Jumping spiders</a> and some other predatory <a href="/facts/Spider/aqpU7eg3">spiders</a> with seemingly simple eyes also emulate retinal vision in various ways. Many <a href="/facts/Insect/IgDNvnUL">insects</a> have unambiguously compound eyes consisting of multiple lenses (up to tens of thousands), but achieve an effect similar to that of a camera eye, in that each ommatidium lens focuses light onto a number of neighbouring retinulae.

Simple eye in invertebrates open-in-new

Simple eye in invertebrates