How Zebra Stripes Disrupt Flies' Flight Patterns
Scientists learned in recent years why zebras have black and white stripes — to avoid biting flies. But a study published today in the journal PLOS ONE probes the question further: What is it about stripes that actually disrupts a biting fly’s ability to land on a zebra and suck its blood?
University of California, Davis, Professor Tim Caro and Martin How of the University of Bristol led a series of new experiments to better understand how stripes manipulate the behavior of biting flies as they attempt to come in to land on zebras.
Taking place on a horse farm in Great Britain that kept both zebras and horses, the experiments entailed:
- Close-up observation of zebras as flies attempted to land on them
- Detailed videos to record flight trajectories as the flies cruised close to the zebras
- Dressing the horses and zebras sequentially in black, white and then black-and-white striped coats.