article_snippet.sent: Recently researchers suggested that the eye spots may simply scare away predators by confusing the eye spots or overloading the eye spots senses.
article_snippet.sent: Dr Johanna Mappes and Johanna Mappes colleagues said: 'In this study, the presumed model - owl eyes - and the mimic eyespots appeared to elicit similar reactions both in terms of response type - interest versus aversion - and its intensity - startle versus flee - adding support to the eye-mimicry hypothesis.
article_snippet.sent: Predator-prey interactions in nature often involve dynamic encounters between the partners, and eye spots are more likely to appear suddenly in front of the predator. '
article_snippet.sent: We therefore conclude that it is unlikely that the adaptive value of eye spots is due to sensory or information overload caused by the conspicuousness of colour pattern.'