Camouflage of zebra

1993/06/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Biologia

Joseph Reichholf, professor of biology and ecology at the University of Munich, and Jeffry Waage, specialist in relationships between insects and hot blood mammals, ensure that the reason for zebra lines is fully justified.

According to them, the vision of the tse-tse flies is not able to interpret the zebra lines. The optical apparatus of these insects is formed by two thick eyes. Each of these eyes has thousands of facets and are much worse than mammal eyes to see it in perspective.

A series of trials were conducted to demonstrate the previous opinion. The tse-tse insects were placed in front of the rayed cartons and only chopped into images that were not similar to the zebra lines.