A fruit fly's wing markings mimic ants
The art appears on the fruit fly’s wings. These translucent appendages contain what has been called the image of an ant. The perfect
image is of what appears to be at first glance “ant-like.” Six legs, a
pair of antennae, head, thorax and “tapered” abdomen. According to fly
specialist Dr Brigitte Howarth, from the Zayed University, the images
are “absolutely perfect.” It was the doctor who first spotted the
Goniurellia tridens in the UAE.
The G. tridens is part of the tephritidae family that includes 5,000
different species of fruit flies. These insects are also known as
peacock flies because of their colorful body markings. These particular
fruit flies are called the picture wing species and there are 27
different types who have wing images that range from simple shapes to
very complex, like the fly that Dr Howarth discovered...
More at the link.
Those wings just blew my mind.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this picture freaks me out every time I see it. BTW, latest thought is that the wing markings mimic spiders and not ants. YMMV.
ReplyDeleteLurker111