Why Are Flies So Hard To Swat?
One secret is their specialized hind wings. High-speed cameras show that flies' modified hind wings help with their speedy takeoffs.
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00:00Why are flies so hard to swat?
00:05A fly buzzes past your head and lands nearby.
00:09You grab a fly swatter, and you strike!
00:12But no matter how quick you are, the fly escapes unharmed.
00:15What is it that makes flies so hard to swat?
00:20Flies have many adaptations that give them extra speed, maneuverability, and perception,
00:25making them very, very good at detecting and evading your swats.
00:30And new evidence shows that one of the ways they do that is with vibrations of stick-like
00:35structures with a knob at the end, called halteres.
00:39When halteres vibrate during flight, they're sensing body rotations and transmitting information
00:44to the fly's wings, which helps flies to stabilize their bodies.
00:48However, houseflies also vibrate their halteres while walking, but scientists didn't know
00:54why.
00:55So they looked at houseflies and their close relatives to see if oscillating halteres affected
01:00how the flies launch into the air.
01:03Scientists filmed flies during takeoff using high-speed cameras, recording footage at speeds
01:08up to 3,000 frames per second.
01:11They found that houseflies and other closely related flies launched themselves around five
01:16times faster than other flies, and with just one wingbeat.
01:20When scientists removed those flies' halteres, it took them longer to take off, and some
01:26took a nosedive and crash-landed.
01:29But halteres aren't the only secret weapon in a fly's evasive arsenal.
01:33Fruit flies can change course in under 1,100th of a second, about 50 times faster than an
01:39eye can blink.
01:41Flies also have exceptional vision, which helps them react to a threat and adjust their
01:45trajectory within milliseconds before takeoff.
01:50With all these built-in advantages, it's no wonder that the fly you're trying to swat
01:55can easily escape and just buzz off.
02:00Aerodynamic flies.
02:02Just another one of life's little mysteries.