Flies Can't See Pink

[Zul'jin]

With the recent renewed push toward cleaner living and reduction of pesticide use, scientists have been studying flies and means to control them. What they've found is that flies cannot see pink.

Studies have shown that killing flies with a pink fly swatter is more effective than any other color. Even clear is not as effective as pink. The theory is that flies can see the portion of their field of vision that is occupied by a clear swatter as a blur but cannot see the pink at all. It doesn't block out the images. It's as if the pink swatter isn't there at all.

Flies are insects and have compound eyes. Each part of the compound, each ommatidia, has pigment cells that allow in a certain spectrum of light that the fly interprets as a color. Their pigment cells do not let in pink. They cannot interpret something as being pink so their little fly brains don't even know it's there.

This doesn't guarantee a kill every time you swing a pink fly swatter. The fly can still sense disturbances in the air around it. If it decides to take flight because of that, you'll probably still miss. Still though, pink give you a huge advantage.

The least effective color is one that contrasts the most with the surroundings.

 

[jgln]

So they see through pink? I would think they still notice a change in the field of vision, you know a bare empty square space coming their way? Anyway, I don't disbelieve they can't see pink and that pink fly swatters work the best, I just would think they still "see" it. I could be wrong but I do want to see if I can find a pink swatter and try this.

 

[malkore]

I believe it. Obviously we have to guess at 'why' the fly doesn't respond to being attacked with a pink swatter..

I'd guess its more that they just don't notice it at all. Ever play with a dog, and there's already a toy on the floor, but the dog is oblivious to it? Yet as soon as you tell the dog "get the toy"...they clearly see it and retrieve it.
That's how a dogs brain works...if he's not looking for the item, his brain ignores it as 'unimportant'.

I bet there's no natural 'hot pink' predators for flies, so their brains never evolved to care about pink attacking them. So for all intents and purposes, pink = invisible to them.

 

[Homercidal]

That's why our insides are pink. So flies aren't attracted to them

My big question is, what SHADE of pink can't the flies see? If they can see red, and they can see white, then what ration of those two colors perfectly disappear to the fly's eye?

 

[jgln]

Of course if I do obtain a pink fly swatter it will have to be through the woman. I could see me at the hardware store picking the pink swatter in a selection of many colors. That or me asking the guy "Hey, got any pink fly swatters?"

 

[UglyBhamGuy]

then sounding like an idiot saying, "You know... flies can't see pink. i read it on them internets."

 

[arturo7]

I'm bringing pink lemonade to the next picnic.

Ah, to hell with that. I'll color my next batch of brew pink! While I'm at it, how about some pink bread so the little bastards stay away from my sammiches!

 

[Ohio-Ed]

So they see through pink? I would think they still notice a change in the field of vision, you know a bare empty square space coming their way? Anyway, I don't disbelieve they can't see pink and that pink fly swatters work the best, I just would think they still "see" it. I could be wrong but I do want to see if I can find a pink swatter and try this.

My guess is that they'd figure it out eventually... If you are a REALLY bad shot with the swatter.

 

[Blanda]

Geez!!! Now I feel completely scamed by a pink panther´s chapter!!

I hate this thread...

 

[BBQnDaddy]

Prompted by my 6 year old daughter's brilliant comment that they should make clear fly swatters, we went on a search for the super swatter to kill the super fly in our house. We found this thread and got excited about pink fly swatters. We became suspicious after we didn't find many pink fly swatters for sale. We looked this up and foudn NO supporting evidence to this "flies can't see pink" claim.

However, we did find the following pubished scientific study. http://www.ane.pl/pdf/3206.pdf on Musca Domestica (the scientific name for the house fly). They conducted color vision wavelength tests on flies and found that flies cannot see colors in the wavelengths of 400-450 nm range.

We then went to the NASA website http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/EDDOCS/Wavelengths_for_Colors.html#violet
and found those wavelengths correspond to the color VIOLET.

So, it looks like VIOLET fly swatters are the way to go. We will soon test this as our summer home schooling project.

Wish us luck. Hope we can kill this superfly!!!

 

[TxBrew]

Prompted by my 6 year old daughter's brilliant comment that they should make clear fly swatters, we went on a search for the super swatter to kill the super fly in our house. We found this thread and got excited about pink fly swatters. We became suspicious after we didn't find many pink fly swatters for sale. We looked this up and foudn NO supporting evidence to this "flies can't see pink" claim.

However, we did find the following pubished scientific study. http://www.ane.pl/pdf/3206.pdf on Musca Domestica (the scientific name for the house fly). They conducted color vision wavelength tests on flies and found that flies cannot see colors in the wavelengths of 400-450 nm range.

We then went to the NASA website http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/EDDOCS/Wavelengths_for_Colors.html#violet
and found those wavelengths correspond to the color VIOLET.

So, it looks like VIOLET fly swatters are the way to go. We will soon test this as our summer home schooling project.

Wish us luck. Hope we can kill this superfly!!!

Excellent research.

 

[davidhaunte]

interesting hmm if I were a fly I would just color my pink and be invisible I could be a fly super hero I would already have the ability to fly and now I would be invisible too the invisible fly! but being a pink fly I would be an easy target to other spices hmm !

 

[brewmonk]

wowithinkthatiunderstoodthat.