Praying mantises possess multiple spectral photoreceptor classes.

Abstract

Praying mantises often display elaborate camouflage, disappearing into the shapes, textures, and colors around them. But they have largely been thought to be monochromats, unable to perceive the colors they mimic. To examine this, we tested the compound eye spectral sensitivity of three species of praying mantises, each representing unique mimicry strategies: Theopropus elegans, Popa spurca, and Hymenopus coronatus. We quantified mantis spectral sensitivity to light, ranging from 350 to 650 nm wavelength, using electroretinography under both dark and chromatic adaptation. We find distinct spectral sensitivity peaks that suggest the presence of multiple photoreceptor types or varying expressions of visual pigments across the species studied. T. elegans and P. spurca exhibited potential trichromatic vision, with primary sensitivity peaks in green (515-525 nm), and secondary and tertiary peaks in ultraviolet (350-360 nm) and blue (441 nm and 416 nm). Conversely, H. coronatus displayed a simpler dichromatic pattern. This suggests praying mantises have the capacity for color vision, likely adapted to enhance camouflage and predatory efficiency in their environments.