FLIES AND ZEBRAS. Yong writes about new experimental evidence which supports the theory that stripes protect the zebra against flies. Zebras are vulnerable to bites of horseflies and tsetse flies which carry fatal diseases. Watching and filming showed that flies have great difficulty in landing on zebras. “The flies had no problem finding the zebras or approaching them, but couldn’t stick the landing.” Videos show that flies have trouble decelerating when they approach a zebra, tending to either overshoot or bounce off.
The biologists then experimented with striped coats for horses. Yong says: “Cloaked in stripes, the very same animals suddenly became more resistant to flies, except on their uncovered heads.”
Now that striped coats on horses work as well as stripes on actual zebras, there will be experiments with different kinds of striped coats.
Thee is a pleasing photograph of a horse wearing a striped coat acompanying the article.
This is so cool! Your concluding line is funny and charming but this really is a seriously fascinating scientific discovery. Do you suppose if humans wear black and white stripes we could avoid being bitten too? Would we need to apply zebra facepaint too?