The first European colonists introduced Apis mellifera, the common honeybee, to the Americas. Today honeybees can be found all over the world. Bees often shield themselves from rain, which can chill their flight muscles to the point that they cannot fly. Forcipomyia beats its wings over 62,000 cycles per minute. The Australian dragonfly Austrophlebia costalis has been clocked flying at a speed of 36 mph.
Bees possess five eyes.
The three ocelli are simple eyes that discern light intensity, while each of the two large compound eyes contains about 6,900 facets and is well suited for detecting movement. Were a bee to enter a cinema, it would be able to differentiate each individual movie frame being projected. While bees cannot recognize the color red, they do see ultraviolet colors. Unlike the stingers in wasps, the honeybee's stinger is barbed. Once the stinger pierces a mammal's soft skin, the attached venom pouch pumps a mixture containing melittin, histamine, and other enzymes into the target.