Staring directly into the eyes has a powerful intimidating effect, and many species have evolved staring eye-spots as self-defense mechanisms. Many moths have a pair of startling eye-markings on their wings. These lie concealed until the creatures are attacked by predators. The wings then open and flash the bright eye-spots in the face of the enemy. It has been proved experimentally that this exerts a valuable intimidating influence on the would-be killers, who frequently flee and leave the insects unmolested.
It’s amazing how well defined the eye-spots are.
Evolution by davydubbit on Flickr.
“One of the hardest ideas for humans to accept, is that we are not the culmination of anything. It is part of our vanity as humans that we tend to think of evolution as a process that, in effect, was programmed to produce us”
