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Prey detection and sustained attention in praying mantises
Praying mantises are specialized predators with several visual adaptations to detect and capture prey. In this talk, I will talk about three adaptations: stereo vision, second-order motion detection and sustained attention. We tested mantises with virtual 3D targets and showed that mantis stereopsis enables prey capture in complex scenes but relies on a different mechanism to that seen in primates. We next tested their responses to different forms of motion and demonstrated the important of second-order motion for prey detection by not prey capture. Finally, we tested the ability of mantises to attend to prey once they become stationary and found that mantises are capable of long-term sustained attention that depends on stereoscopic disparity. I will discuss the implications for real world behaviour and the benefits of a comparative approach towards understanding visual cognition.
Date:
16 October 2025, 15:00
Venue:
Life and Mind Building, South Parks Road, OX1 3EL
Speaker:
Dr Vivek Nityananda (Biosciences Institute, University of Newcastle)
Organising department:
Department of Biology
Organiser contact email address:
robert.heathcote@biology.ox.ac.uk
Host:
Dr Samuel Fabian (University of Oxford)
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Members of the University only
Editor:
Andrea Kastner
