Photo: J.D. Weintraub / ANSP Entomology

Do you see blue and black here? The insect pictured above is a weevil from the genus Eupholus, a specimen in the entomology collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. You’re looking at this blue and black (and partly iridescent green) weevil today because we’re making a shameless ploy for attention on the coattails of a dress photo whose coloring proved very controversial: Some of us correctly perceive the dress as blue and black, but many more people insist it is white and gold. (Lots of outlets have weighed in on the science of this phenomenon. See Vox for one explanation.)

But the weevil is more than just a ploy for your attention. It’s also a symbol of an important lesson from #TheDress: It’s really important to be able to observe the object itself, not just a photograph of…