08/10/2026
Science report for August 2026:
I have been following a research study in Japan that attempts to explain why Zebras have black and white stripes. The latest theory since 2014 is backed up by verifiable scientific data.
In Japan, scientists took a large group of all-black cows and divided them into 3 groups. One group would remain unchanged, one group would be painted with black stripes and the third group painted with white stripes.
Scientists put them in an area with a very high concentration of biting flies.
The evidence was recorded with cameras and the researchers counted the number of flies around each group.
The group that was painted with white stripes had 50% fewer flies. This group also had half as much reaction to being bothered by the flies, such as shifting their feet, shaking their head, flapping ears or swishing their tails. The other two groups of cows showed the same reaction to the flies, including the group with black stripes (the cows also black) so that it eliminated any chance that the paint itself was keeping flies away.
The scientists believe that the compound eyes that flies have are very confusing to the insects, causing them to bounce off of the cows or miss them entirely, and have a substantially higher failure rate at trying to land on the animals.
Source:
Experimental and comparative studies suggest that the striped coats of zebras can prevent biting fly attacks. Biting flies are serious pests of livestock that cause economic losses in animal production. We hypothesized that cows painted with black and white stripes on their body could avoid biting f...
