Does a fly panic after a swatting near miss?

robosardine

I’ve had a few Housefly’s around the place lately. I could swear that when I try to swat one (is this frowned upon these days? 😀) and I just miss - the fly then panics and does everything in its power to take evasive action as I chase it around for the next while. Is it really panicking and fleeing for all its worth - or is it simply going about its business again hoping to land on the nearest cake? Or how long is it until it forgets about my initial surprise attack?

Spidericemidas

I generally try not to harm any unwanted visitors, perferring to catch them and put them back outside. But I have zero tolerance to flies in the house, and I don’t mind admitting it’s the most satisfying thing to hear the crackling of an electric fly swatter connecting with its target. 😆

db909

The idea that people would frown on swatting flies in your own home is absolutely absurd.

gkillmaster

I was wondering the same thing

michael_m

Listen to the second side of the Small Faces album ‘Ogden’s Nutgone Flake’, and all will be revealed.

jwmmakerofmusic

@db909 said:
The idea that people would frown on swatting flies in your own home is absolutely absurd.

Exactly this.

u0421793

It is responding to the eddy currents left behind by the swat which missed

gusgranite

It is actually blowing raspberries at you. The effort sends it backwards like a balloon letting out its air.

jwmmakerofmusic

@gusgranite said:
It is actually blowing raspberries at you. The effort sends it backwards like a balloon letting out its air.

All the more reason to swat it.

purpan2

Being a fly, I feel I must offer an opposite point of view. In fact, my normal life, buzzing around aimlessly and landing sometimes on something delicious, sometimes on a piece of shit, is not unlike the activity of an average iOS musician in the appstore. Please remember, when you reach for the swatter, we are alike.

_ki

The scientific paper attention span of flies measured an average 9–12 seconds in wild-type flies, but that paper researched visual stimulation.

I found another paper about evasive actions of flies, they do banked turns to escape. I could‘t find how long a fly usually ‚remembers‘ such a threat situation.

There is also a lot of research regarding fruit flies and their threat reactions, but i don‘t know if the results apply to household flies.

.

I usually try to open an escape route to the outside for the fly - otherwise it can get pretty wild when my cats spot the fly and try to jump-catch it.

wim

I've always figured time passes much, much slower for a fly. What I see as a quick swat, to them is like watching slow motion video ... like watching a balloon float toward you.

You know how kids (well if I'm honest, I still do too) chase a balloon around the house and knocking it upward before it hits the ground? Flys are just playing that game. They only get swatted when they're spacing out about something.

MrStochastic

Little Fly,
Thy summer's play
My thoughtless hand
Has brushed away.

Am not I
A fly like thee?
Or art not thou
A man like me?

For I dance
And drink, and sing,
Till some blind hand
Shall brush my wing.

If thought is life
And strength and breath
And the want
Of thought is death;

Then am I
A happy fly,
If I live,
Or if I die.

• William Blake

jolico

@wim said:
I've always figured time passes much, much slower for a fly. What I see as a quick swat, to them is like watching slow motion video ... like watching a balloon float toward you.

You know how kids (well if I'm honest, I still do too) chase a balloon around the house and knocking it upward before it hits the ground? Flys are just playing that game. They only get swatted when they're spacing out about something.

They have unlocked bullet time.