Scientists researching why zebras have stripes have found that the stripes confuse blood-sucking flies.
Story from The Guardian:
Why the zebra got its stripes.
In an experiment that involved zebras, horses, and horses dressed up as zebras, they found that Tabanid flies (think: march flies) didn't land on zebras or on the zebra-print horse coats as frequently as they did on naked horses or the exposed parts of the dressed-up horses.
Do I need to make myself some zebra-print clothes? It's not all good news - the horseflies in the experiment still buzzed around the zebras, they just didn't land. They either veered away or bounced off. I don't really want march flies buzzing around me and bouncing off me.
Mother Nature at her best again...hugs, Julierose
ReplyDeleteYou're right. It's the buzzing around that makes march flies so horrible. Once they land you can whack 'em.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting!
ReplyDeleteI saw that article in the Guardian also. Isn't it amazing that people could figure out the zebra's secret?
ReplyDelete