The flies buzzed over your head and landed nearby; you snatched a fly swatter or rolled up a magazine, and approached cautiously-then you went on strike!
However, no matter how fast you are, flies are almost always faster, and can usually escape your restraints and escape without harm. (Want to make you angry?!)
Flies have a variety of adaptability that can improve their speed, maneuverability and perception, making them very, very good at detecting and avoiding the fastest special police. New evidence suggests that the hindwings of flies play an important role in launching them quickly-usually only in a moment.
related: 7 amazing bug ninja skills
Housefly (Domestic flies) Belongs to the order Diptera or true flies. Diptera flies have improved hind wings, which have evolved into a small, rod-like structure with a knob at the end, called. Their vibration helps insects stabilize their bodies during flight by sensing the rotation of their bodies and transmitting information to the wings.
Flies in the Diptera subfamily Calyptratae, including house flies, also make their harness vibrate when they walk, but scientists don’t know why.In a study published online in the journal on January 1
Scientists used high-speed cameras to capture tethered and free laboratory-bred flies during takeoff, and the scientists recorded the footage at 3,000 frames per second. They found that the launch speed of Calyptratae flies was about five times faster than other flies. Their takeoff takes about 0.007 seconds (7 milliseconds) on average, and only one wing beats.
“The grass took off within 14 milliseconds [0.014 seconds]Researcher report. In contrast, the study showed that the flight of non-Ca flies lasted about 0.039 seconds (39 milliseconds) and required about 4 flaps.
Next, the researchers anesthetized the flies and took out the bridle that all Diptera flies have. Flies lacking these nodular structures take longer to fly, but takeoff time has no effect on non-Ca flies without a back. After removing the hanging hal, the stability during takeoff will also be affected, but only for lyflies.
For example, scientists claim that the grass insects called blow flies try to escape takeoff without their backless, “always leading to crashes and landings.”
Alexandra Yager, a postdoctoral researcher at Imperial College London, said: “This shows that for Muscidae, to take off quickly and steadily, there must be input.” Yarger is at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio. Department of Fox Laboratory conducted fruit fly research.
Being able to evade predation is a great benefit for animals, and lyflies fly very successfully. Yarger told Live Science in an e-mail that there are approximately 18,000 of these species in this species, accounting for approximately 12% of the diversity of Diptera.
Jager said: “When performing an escape takeoff, there is always a trade-off between speed and stability, but the grass seems to have found a way to offset certain stability losses by using a camisole.” Compared with many other flies, the backless can make Ca grass have a faster and more stable escape ability.”
In the blink of an eye
Briefs are not the only secret weapon among flies avoidance weapons. Once the fruit fly is flying, it can perform the envy of maneuvering fighter pilots. Fruit flies can change course in less than 1/100 second-about 50 times the blinking speed, Previously reported on Live Science. In the experiment, the properly timed wing flaps produced enough force to quickly propel the fruit fly away from the predator in the air.
Florian Muijres once studied the biomechanics of flight at the University of Washington in Seattle, and now works at Wageningen University and Research Center in the United States. He said: “These flies can roll 90 degrees. Some are almost upside-down to maximize their effect and escape.” The Netherlands told Live Science in 2014.
Flies also have extraordinary vision, which can help them plan a jump away from threats. Scientists wrote in the 2008 issue of Science that about 200 milliseconds before takeoff, fruit flies use visual input warnings to warn of imminent dangers, adjust their posture and determine the direction to launch them to a safe location. Current biology.
In fact, their enhanced perception can provide six times more visual input than humans in one second. BBC report In 2017.
Animal brains perceive the passage of time by processing images at a rate called the “flicker fusion rate,” a term that describes how many images flash into their brains per second. Roger Hardie, Professor Emeritus of Cellular Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, UK, implanted electrodes into the photoreceptor of the fly’s eye to measure its flicker fusion rate, and calculated it to fuse 400 times per second. According to BBC data, the average human flicker fusion rate is about 60. This means that the movement you perceive as “normal” is like flying in slow motion.
With all these built-in advantages, it’s no wonder that the flies you want to swat will escape.However, one way that might increase your chances is to aim the flap at a place where it might fly instead of stopping it, Michael Dickinson of the Technical College of Pasadena, California told us independent in 2011.
Dickinson said: “It’s best not to slap the starting position of the fly.” “For this reason, move forward a little bit to predict where the fly will jump.”
Again, you can also let yourself go, Yarger added. She said: “They have the same right to survival as other animals.”
Editor’s note: This article was updated at 11:35 AM Eastern Time on January 13, and includes quotations and experiment videos from the lead researcher.
Originally published in “Life Science”.
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