Mosquito Eyes Up Close: Electron Microscope Image Creates Stunning View Of Insect

No one really likes getting up close and personal with a mosquito.

Except when it's under an electron microscope.

While you may be aware of the many parts of an eye that some insects have, you've probably never seen them on a microscopic level. FEI gives you that opportunity.

Imaged using an FEI Quanta microscope, this frontal view has a real-life width of just 284µm. Under 450x magnification, this bug truly looks like an alien creature.

The image seems almost like a computer rendering, but it's not. In fact there's a good reason for the odd look.

The description, from the original posting:

    Frontal view to the compound eyes of a mosquito. The surface of each single eye has a rough appearance which gives them a violet shimmer in real life. Between and above the eyes fine scales, similar to the ones at butterflies can be seen.

Mosquitoes can transmit a wide variety of diseases, and estimates suggest that over 800,000 people die every year from malaria.