Dragonflies may lack a humans' big brain, but a new study suggests that the insects are capable of feats previously seen only in primates.

They can screen out useless visual info to focus on a target, a process called selective attention, that could be used as a model system for robotic vision.

The discovery is the first evidence that an invertebrate animal has brain cells for selective attention, which has so far only been found in primates.

Dr Steven Wiederman from the University of Adelaide's Centre for Neuroscience Research have been studying insect vision for years.