#insectology

I wonder how far bugs can see? Is this small suburban yard as long to them as a mile would be to us humans? Ten miles?

Can they see from one fence-line to the other, or does their vision just fade off into the distance mid-yard, like ours would with the curvature of the earth?

Does flying or crawling from one end of this yard to the other seem like entering another town to them? A whole other country?

Does the difference between the concrete patio and the brick walkway and the grass seem like a vast change in terrain to them, like we would think of a rocky mountain or a desert meeting the edge of a forest or a meadow?

found in victoria, australia

Japanese researchers have conducted an experiment on protecting cows from biting flies. They’ve found that by painting cows with zebra-like stripes, the biting flies are dissuaded from biting the cows.

Animal scientists believe that zebras may have evolved to have their stripe pattern as a deterrent to insects. The stripes seem to confuse the bugs’ motion detection systems  that control approach and landing, thus making the zebras not as appealing of a target.

While the scientists agree that more work needs to be done with this experiment, it does seem to be a promising start, with the zebra-painted cows having fewer biting flies bothering them. You can read more about this experiment here!