Dazzle flies

April 7, 2014 9:33 AM

"Zebras are obviously the chillest animals on Earth, but how did they get that way? As it turns out, their signature stripes may not have evolved as camouflage, but instead are largely a deterrent to blood-sucking flies." -- At first blush it may seem a hoax, considering the publication date, but it turns out very likely that zebras got their stripes not as camouflage, but as protection against biting insects.
posted by MartinWisse (21 comments total)

Why can't it be for both? The benefit to zebras isn't just the best effect, it is the sum of all effects.
posted by cman at 9:40 AM on April 7, 2014 [4 favorites]

The Great Zebra Exodus Incredible Nature Documentary [YOUTUBE] [HD]
posted by Fizz at 9:46 AM on April 7, 2014

Przewalski's horse is the only true wild horse still living in the world today (other "wild" horses are feral domesticated breeds). Przewalski has never been domesticated. It is native to the Asian steppe, like Mongolia. There they have biting flies that can kill a horse in a matter of hours. "The legs of Przewalski's horse are often faintly striped."
posted by stbalbach at 9:53 AM on April 7, 2014 [2 favorites]

Evolution is not targeted! Animals do not evolve in order to accomplish goals! Evolution occurs when a random mutation produces a tangible advantage for survival, thus increasing that particular specimen's likelihood of breeding and passing on the same mutation to the next generation!
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:55 AM on April 7, 2014 [4 favorites]

Yes?
posted by MartinWisse at 9:56 AM on April 7, 2014

i have heard that some masonic halls have black and white checkerboard floors, representing good and evil. the stripes on a zebra represent some kind of duality in opposition, but probably not that one.
posted by bruce at 10:08 AM on April 7, 2014

I wish they explained why the flies don't like to land on stripes.

You'd think that individual flies that were ok with landing on stripes would have a big reproductive success advantage over the stripe-averse individuals, and hence the zebras stripes would become redundant after a period of time.

Knowing why the flies don't like stripes would help explain why this hasn't happened.
posted by Rumple at 10:32 AM on April 7, 2014 [4 favorites]

Stripes is an excellent movie.

Hold on a second, do zebra's even have DVD players?
posted by srboisvert at 10:38 AM on April 7, 2014

So if I wore a black and white striped zebra outfit, would it repel mosquitos from biting me? Or would it simply attract mosquito-esque people into asking me why I'm wearing a black and white striped zebra outfit in the first place?
posted by comradechu at 10:41 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]

Faint of Butt, evolution isn't random. Genes have a limited number of ways in which they can mutate, and can have tendencies to mutate in particular ways.

I think.
posted by univac at 10:42 AM on April 7, 2014

OK, now explain Mario Cipollini.
posted by Wolfdog at 11:02 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]

Similarly, referees in the NHL dress in such a way to repel assassination attempts.
posted by mannequito at 11:11 AM on April 7, 2014 [3 favorites]

That radius diagram is missing the ever-important zonkey and zorse.
posted by jillithd at 11:37 AM on April 7, 2014

This isn't a very recent conjecture, and there hasn't been much more evidence to back it up. I remember reading about this a few years back.

Yes, evolution is not directed, and biting fly evolution would also be involved. We would need to see evidence of this co-evolution. Ideally, we'd like to see examples of this same mechanism in other situations where the pressure from insects has led to colour change.
posted by clvrmnky at 12:19 PM on April 7, 2014

I wonder when people will start marketing clothes and hats with supposedly bug-repelling striped prints. You're usually told to wear white or light colored clothing and to avoid flowered prints to avoid attracting mosquitoes and in the latter case bees and wasps.
posted by bad grammar at 1:43 PM on April 7, 2014

There's a party happening later this summer in an area that sometimes has biting flies.
People are already talking about wearing more stripes.
I'll (completely forget to) report back in July (when the thread will be closed anyway).
posted by flaterik at 2:09 PM on April 7, 2014

Is there more to this than zebra distribution correlates with biting fly distribution? Perhaps I can interest Nature Communications in my "theory" that voting Republican causes diabetes.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 2:35 PM on April 7, 2014

Equids with stripes look fatter obv., and the flies don't want to have to pierce all that blubber. This also explains why not all equids are striped: stripes make them look less evolutionarily fit.
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:16 PM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]

CBC's Quirks & Quarks had a good interview with Tim Caro a couple of days ago.
posted by sneebler at 5:21 PM on April 7, 2014

My grey horses always tended to get fewer bot fly eggs on their legs than the bays. I have often wondered if it was a color thing. Biting flies seem to bother the greys more.

I would be willing to test drive a zorse for the sake of science.
posted by BlueHorse at 9:58 PM on April 7, 2014

So there is this photo project where the subject is models whom have had stripy patterns taped on them with electrical tape. Electrical tape is much less than 5 centimeters in width. So considering the generally considered safe nature of electrical tape it would seem an pretty easy initial experiment would be to take those cattle losing a half litre of blood a day with a stripy pattern of electrical tape and see what happens.
posted by Mitheral at 9:02 PM on April 9, 2014