@article{57f563b5dd8e426bb68b7d1a5323c8f8,
title = "Zebras of all stripes repel biting flies at close range",
abstract = "The best-supported hypothesis for why zebras have stripes is that stripes repel biting flies. While this effect is well-established, the mechanism behind it remains elusive. Myriad hypotheses have been suggested, but few experiments have helped narrow the field of possible explanations. In addition, the complex visual features of real zebra pelage and the natural range of stripe widths have been largely left out of experimental designs. In paired-choice field experiments in a Kenyan savannah, we found that hungry Stomoxys flies released in an enclosure strongly preferred to land on uniform tan impala pelts over striped zebra pelts but exhibited no preference between the pelts of the zebra species with the widest stripes and the narrowest stripes. Our findings confirm that zebra stripes repel biting flies under naturalistic conditions and do so at close range (suggesting that several of the mechanisms hypothesized to operate at a distance are unnecessary for the fly-repulsion effect) but indicate that interspecific variation in stripe width is associated with selection pressures other than biting flies.",
author = "Tombak, {Kaia J.} and Gersick, {Andrew S.} and Reisinger, {Lily V.} and Brenda Larison and Rubenstein, {Daniel I.}",
note = "Funding Information: We would like to thank ICIPE for lending us Nzi traps for fly collection and for assisting us in the taxonomic identification of the flies. We also thank the Mpala Research Centre for logistical support, facilities, and permission to conduct the study on their grounds. We thank Josphat Mwangi for assistance in finding the dead zebras and impala and removing the skin sections used in our experiments. We thank Kenya Wildlife Services and the National Commission for Science, Technology, and Innovation of Kenya for permission to conduct this research. This study was supported by funds from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University, The National Geographical Society (grant # 9994-16), and a grant from the Simons Foundation (grant # 638529, KJT). Funding Information: We would like to thank ICIPE for lending us Nzi traps for fly collection and for assisting us in the taxonomic identification of the flies. We also thank the Mpala Research Centre for logistical support, facilities, and permission to conduct the study on their grounds. We thank Josphat Mwangi for assistance in finding the dead zebras and impala and removing the skin sections used in our experiments. We thank Kenya Wildlife Services and the National Commission for Science, Technology, and Innovation of Kenya for permission to conduct this research. This study was supported by funds from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University, The National Geographical Society (grant # 9994-16), and a grant from the Simons Foundation (grant # 638529, KJT). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, The Author(s).",
year = "2022",
month = dec,
doi = "10.1038/s41598-022-22333-7",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "12",
journal = "Scientific reports",
issn = "2045-2322",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",
number = "1",
}