Scientist Steven Wiederman from the University of Aukland (shown in image below) has recently published his work suggesting that dragonflies have the ability to focus on a target while blocking out other useless visual information. This is known as selective attention and his work is the first to demonstrate this ability in neurons from an invertebrate.
Sources:
Image Credit: David O'Carroll, University of Adelaide
Wiederman SA, O'Carroll DC. Selective attention in an insect visual neuron. Current Biology doi:10.1016/j.cub.2012.11.048
dragonfly
zooillogix | August 21, 2008Some incredible early morning shots of wet insects by German photographer Martin Amm.
Red veined darter
Horsefly
more below the fold
Emerald damselfly
Breakfast
Check out more of his work here
grrlscientist | January 3, 2008tags: dragonfly, insects, National Geographic, Image of the Day
Dragonfly.
I found this little guy on one of the hostas this summer; he was covered in dew, sleeping.
Image: Noah Rosen 2007 (photo appears here with permission by National Geographic). [larger view].
grrlscientist | November 21, 2007tags: dragonfly, Orthemis ferruginea, rosease skimmer, Image of the Day
Male Roseate Skimmer, Orthemis ferruginea, November 2007.
Image: Biosparite [larger view]