Eyes Changing Color?

[tigerh318]

Recently caught a wild Chinese mantis on my front gate, and i noticed after it had been in darkness its eyes would turn red. Any explanations?

 

[Ntsees]

That's just the way it is. There are previous posts discussing what you mentioned.

 

[Domanating]

just like our pupils increase or decrease according to the amount of light the eye receives, praying-mantis eyes get darker as light fades. I don't know what process makes them dark but you just need to know that it's natural and it's made for mantids to see better in the dark.

 

[RevWillie]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ommatidium

See paragraph 5:

"In many species, in low-light situations, the pigment is withdrawn, so that light entering the eye might be detected by any of several ommatidia. This enhances light detection but lowers resolution."

 

[Domanating]

Nice info, thanks m8. Each day we learn something new