Scivillage.com Casual Discussion Science Forum

http://www.sciencebase.com/science-blog/...romat.html

EXCERPT: [...] There’s a “spectrum” looking chart of different colourful shades, hues doing the rounds now. If you see fewer than 20 different hues, the article accompanying it says, you’re probably a dichromat, two cones in the retina of your eye or one of the three not functioning in the way it should. If you see between 20 and 32 you’re a trichromat, three fully functioning cones. But, if you see 32-39 different colours you have a fourth type of cone in your retina making you a tetrachromat; colours are much more distinguished apparently, but they’re not so keen on yellow. If you can see more than 39 colours, you’re not a pentachromat, you’re a little fibber....

I counted 38 bands that I could distinguish. I'm a tetrachromat! Color rocks!

Tetrachromats? That's nuthin'.

According to the Feb 28, 2015 issue of New Scientist, page 19, research conducted by Ryo Futahashi at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba, Japan, reveals that dragonflies have no less than 11, and in some cases as many as 30, different visual opsins. They seem to use different ones at different stages in their life cycles.

Previous research has shown that dragonflies can see ultraviolet and light polarization.