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Scientists discover why flies are so hard to swat

Scientists discover why flies are so hard to swat

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For example, the videos showed that if the descending swatter--actually, a 14-centimeter-diameter black disk, dropping at a 50-degree angle toward a fly standing at the center of a small platform--comes from in front of the fly, the fly moves its middle legs forward and leans back, then raises and extends its legs to push off backward. When the threat comes from the back, however, the fly (which has a nearly 360-degree field of view and can see behind itself) moves its middle legs a tiny bit backwards. With a threat from the side, the fly keeps its middle legs stationary, but leans its whole body in the opposite direction before it jumps.

"We also found that when the fly makes planning movements prior to take-off, it takes into account its body position at the time it first sees the threat," Dickinson says. "When it first notices an approaching threat, a fly's body might be in any sort of posture depending on what it was doing at the time, like grooming, feeding, walking, or courting. Our experiments showed that the fly somehow 'knows' whether it needs to make large or small postural changes to reach the correct preflight posture. This means that the fly must integrate visual information from its eyes, which tell it where the threat is approaching from, with mechanosensory information from its legs, which tells it how to move to reach the proper preflight pose."

"Courting"!? Suddenly I'm picturing a fly with a dozen roses and a box of chocolates...

But this makes sense. If you think about it, a fly is good at three things: flying, feeding, and fucking. Basic threat-avoidance seems like a pretty fundamental thing to be able to do, if you're an animal interested in your survival.

It sometimes amazes me what some people are getting paid to do...

probably a government paid for study too...xoxoxoo

Quote:

Dickinson's research also suggests an optimal method for actually swatting a fly. "It is best not to swat at the fly's starting position, but rather to aim a bit forward of that to anticipate where the fly is going to jump when it first sees your swatter," he says.

Easiest way to swat a fly is with 2 swatters coming at different angles. Works every time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fotzlid (Post 2515217)

Easiest way to swat a fly is with 2 swatters coming at different angles. Works every time.

I prefer the .38 caliber flyswatter...aint never met a fly that could evade that. :thumbsup:

Yeah I just clap my hands about 2 inches above the fly. Let's see it evade that shit ;)

It is cool though. As an entomologist, I can appreciate how advanced parts of the fly's brain have to be to process this information.

Next up: why it's so difficult to pick up pigeons with your bare hands.