The U.S. military is already looking to nature for defense techniques, but maybe American agencies should examine the fruit fly in particular for evasive tactics.
As detailed in a new study, the tiny insects use incredibly quick and agile turns in mid-air to escape their predators, Reuters reported.
"They generate a rather precise banked turn, just like an aircraft pilot would, to roll the body and generate a force to take them away from the threat," said University of Washington biology professor and lead study author Michael Dickinson, as quoted by Reuters.
Researchers filmed Drosophila hydei fruit flies using three high-speed cameras operating at 7,500 frames per second, discovering that the flies used movements similar to fighter jets to elude would-be captors.
According to the study published Thursday in the journal Science, the sesame seed-sized flies can switch up their flight course in less than one one-hundredth of a second.
The insects can roll their bodies simultaneously to elude predators in a way that mimics military jets banking to turn. They are also able to roll on their sides to nearly 90 degrees and fly almost upside down.
"That happens very quickly. And it's generated with remarkably subtle changes in wing motion," Dickinson said. "We were pretty astonished by how little they have to do with their wing motion to generate these very precise maneuvers."
Flies' wings move at a rate of around 200 times each second. The researchers were able to capture their movements by using cameras with extremely high shutter speeds working with bright infrared lights, which were not seen by the fruit flies.
"I've always been fascinated by flies. Everybody thinks that they have a simple nervous system, but I think it's exactly the opposite," said Dickinson, as quoted by Reuters. "They just have a really tiny one. But it's incredibly compact. They do so much with just this brain the size of a salt grain."
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