Some visual neurons in the dragonfly (Hemicordulia tau) optic lobe respond to small, moving targets, likely underlying their fast pursuit of prey and conspecifics. In response to repetitive targets presented at short intervals, the spiking activity of these 'small target motion detector' (STMD) neurons diminishes over time. Previous experiments limited this adaptation by including inter-trial rest periods of varying durations. However, the characteristics of this effect have never been quantified. Here, using extracellular recording techniques lasting for several hours, we quantified both the spatial and temporal properties of STMD adaptation.We found that the time course of adaptation was variable across STMD units. In any one STMD, a repeated series led to more rapid adaptation, a minor accumulative effect more akin to habituation. Following an adapting stimulus, responses recovered quickly, though the rate of recovery decreased nonlinearly over time. We found that the region of adaptation is highly localized, with targets displaced by approximately 2.5° eliciting a naïve response. Higher frequencies of target stimulation converged to lower levels of sustained response activity. We determined that adaptation itself is a target-tuned property, not elicited by moving bars or luminance flicker. As STMD adaptation is a localized phenomenon, dependent on recent history, it is likely to play an important role in closed-loop behavior where a target is foveated in a localized region for extended periods of the pursuit duration. Significance statement The dragonfly is an effective and efficient predator, with specialized target-detecting neurons located within the brain's optic lobe. When presented with repeated targets, the spiking activity of these target-detecting neurons is reduced. Such adaptation to repeated stimulation is a common property of neurons across diverse species. Our results show that target-induced adaptation is constrained to the location of the presented targets. Furthermore, we have quantified the degree to which neuronal responses to moving targets are reduced and then recover over time. This adaptation in a visual feature-discrimination pathway raises important questions about the functional implications of neuronal adaptation on the crucial behavior of target pursuit.