Facet

A compound eye is made up of many individual ommatidia. Each ommatidia has a hexagonal face which, together, all form the surface of the compound eye. It is this individual ommatidium face that is called a facet.

A scanning electron micrograph of the facets within the compound eye of a fruit fly (Drosophila sp.).
Photograph by Louisa Howard, Dartmouth College.

Other names for (or types of) Facet include:

• Corneal facet

Related terms

• Compound eye
• Fovea
• Ocelli
• Ommatidia

Related groups of terms

• Invertebrate body structure

See other words beginning with F