Why Can’t Flies Fly Straight?
WouterFlies are incredibly poor at flying straight. They also have very poor hovering abilities. They usually circle around an object, such as a lampshade, looking for a potential mate. This behavior can be a problem if you have several flies in your house. It can also be an indicator that you have many dozens of eggs hatching.
Flies have two wings that function like a traditional wing, and a pair of drumstick-like organs called halteres. These organs function as gyroscopes during flight. They measure torque and angular momentum around the body and make necessary corrections to the flight.
To make a 180-degree turn, a fly has to perform 250 wing flaps per second. To fly a full 360 degrees, the wing must be tilted by nine degrees and the movement must be coordinated with the entire body. It takes about a second for a fruit fly to turn a full 360 degrees.
A good way to improve your swatting success rate is to aim your swat at a fly’s likely path. Michael Dickinson, a professor at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, suggests that leaving flies alone will also help. Remember that insects have the same right to survive as we do.
The same study has shown that flies perform rapid rotational maneuvers prior to touchdown. In addition, flies have recently demonstrated inverted landings where they actively pitch up their body before contacting the ceiling. The researchers also showed that the process requires a combination of leg-assisted and body rotations to achieve this result.
