"...The means by which these 'stretch-activated muscles' are turned on and off at high speed---one wing beat takes 5/1000th of a second---has been a mystery..."
Article/Videos
Order of Kilopi
"...The means by which these 'stretch-activated muscles' are turned on and off at high speed---one wing beat takes 5/1000th of a second---has been a mystery..."
Article/Videos
Banned
Now explain to me why some of them bite?
Order of Kilopi
Candy: fruit flies biting??
On topic: whatever works as a heart in these animals must be very high-pulse, if they can make such rapid wing movements (and if the bird's heartbeat analogy still counts).
Banned
Are you calling me a fruit? :wink:Originally Posted by Nicolas
I guess I better not tell you I'm talking about horse flies, then.
Resume topic!
Order of Kilopi
Related: at my faculty, people are filming fruit flies and the air patterns around them. They use that data to design micro unmanned planes/helicopters.
Science is such a strange thing. One day people are filming golfers on the moon, the next thing you know they all start filming fruit flies!
Established Member
Lets get quantum here...
It seems to me that flies experiance time at a different rate to us.
Anyone thats tried to swat one will attend to this.
Maybe there is some link between brain size and perception of time?
Could it be that to them their wings are not beating this fast?
Honored Member
Surprisingly, the fruitfly's heart rate is in the range of 200-300 bpm (by my Google). Remembering that oxygen delivery is the key, and insects get it by direct diffusion through holes in the body.
The heart itself is a simple peristaltic tube. Interestingly, it is believed to have evolved from the throat, which is also a tube that can have controlled, directional contractions to move things along.
Established Member
I still want to know why flies will buzz along the window in your car, but roll the window down, even all of them, and they won't go near 'em!
Established Member
I know, it's the same with people in a plane!I still want to know why flies will buzz along the window in your car, but roll the window down, even all of them, and they won't go near 'em!
Order of Kilopi
That is not true Fram: if you open a plane's window at, say, 30.000 ft, everyone and everything gets strangely attracted to that window...I know, it's the same with people in a plane!I still want to know why flies will buzz along the window in your car, but roll the window down, even all of them, and they won't go near 'em!
Banned
SSSSsssstttthhhhunk! 8-[That is not true Fram: if you open a plane's window at, say, 30.000 ft, everyone and everything gets strangely attracted to that window...I know, it's the same with people in a plane!I still want to know why flies will buzz along the window in your car, but roll the window down, even all of them, and they won't go near 'em!
Established Member
Where is the latch to open the window on the plane? :-k :wink:That is not true Fram: if you open a plane's window at, say, 30.000 ft, everyone and everything gets strangely attracted to that window...I know, it's the same with people in a plane!I still want to know why flies will buzz along the window in your car, but roll the window down, even all of them, and they won't go near 'em!
Order of Kilopi
It's hidden, but you just have to push really,really hardWhere is the latch to open the window on the plane? :-k :wink:That is not true Fram: if you open a plane's window at, say, 30.000 ft, everyone and everything gets strangely attracted to that window...I know, it's the same with people in a plane!I still want to know why flies will buzz along the window in your car, but roll the window down, even all of them, and they won't go near 'em!
Besides, if you're sitting in a plane, and the person next to you looks rather nervous, do the following:
1) Point to the inner (plastic) window's vent hole, and say "no wait a second, that ain't a HOLE in your window???"
2)As you point to the hole, you touch it. This will make the inner window move in it's bearing( the rubber, you know). Start pushing with a flat hand on the window. You really don't have to push hard to make it move more than 1 cm (which is clearly visible). say "oh no look the whole thing sits loose"
3)Finish with "you know what happens to all of us when this thing falls out, don't you?"
4)remain silent, as in deep thoughts/prayers
On topic: 200/300 bpm for fruit flies is little comparet to doves or other birds. I guess their internal working just can't be compared.
Established Member
Well, you know what they say; "Love flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
I'll get me coat........
Order of Kilopi
Wasn't that "Time flies like an arrow"?
Established Member
Yes, love flies like a balloon that you let go.
It makes a nasty sound and you never know where it will end.
Happy valentine! 8)
Order of Kilopi
March 2, 2005 (left column)
"A wildlife group has sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over failing to list 12 species of Hawaiian picture-wing flies as endangered...two to three times the size of a common housefly...even if you were looking for them it might be difficult to see them..."
Order of Kilopi
I can swat flys with my bare hands. I consider it a gift. 8-[
Established Member
I prefer a rolled-up newspaper. Especially for those big fat bluebottles (Which seem rather dopey compared to the smaller ones) I'm not a hater of arthropods, but things like flies and maggots turn me stomach.
Yick.
Established Member
Flies have better reaction times than humans because their neural impulses have a much shorter distance to travel. You see, the electrochemical impulses are actually pretty slow... IIRC something like 40 mph.
Of course, reaction time can't save you when you're really, really stupid, as June bugs prove beyond all doubt...
Established Member
Flies have to jump backwards when they take off. They react to any object moving quickly towards them. If you cup your hand and skim it rapidy just over the surface towards a fly from its anterior aspect the fly will jump right into your hand. This takes a little practice, but it works consistently. What I do after catching one is shake the little bugger up a bit and then throw it against a wall. If you do this quickly enough and close enough to the wall the fly will bounce off and lie there stunned.
Established Member
As the frogs commented during dinner, "Time's fun when you're having flies."
#-o
[-X
...ouch...stop with the hitting already...I'll quit, I promise... 8-[
Banned
Banned
This works, too.
Order of Kilopi
So, on the topic of getting sucked out of planes. Is the pressure gradient so great that it really could suck a person through a whole smaller than they are? And even if it is that great, you would think equalization would occur pretty quickly. I mean, I've seen a couple movies where the big sucking scene lasted a couple minutes.
I do know from personal experience that at 20,000 feet there is no noticeable sucking out effect at all. Can it really be that much different at 30,000 feet, or even 40,000?
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