BRaIN Seminar: Stereoscopic vision in insects

Speaker: Dr. Jenny Read, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University

Title: Stereoscopic vision in insects

Host: Dr. Robert Hess

Abstract: People used to think stereoscopic “3D” vision was restricted to a few “higher” mammals such as primates and cats. However, we now know it has evolved independently in several taxa, including mammals, birds, amphibians and at least one insect: the praying mantis. Mantids are the only invertebrates known to possess stereo vision, so it’s particularly interesting to understand how their stereo works and whether it is similar to our own. I will describe work from my lab suggesting that insect stereo vision is quite fundamentally different from our own, being based on second-order figure motion rather than luminance contrast.