Why do flies repeatedly throw themselves against ceilings?

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I understand completely the confusion around windows. Those f\*ckers be tricky. But what must look like just a flat, hard, opaque stone surface? Again and again, hanging on to the ceiling, lifting, banging their body up in the ceiling and then down again in the same general area. What´s the instinct/tactic?

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2 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Flies primary senses for decision making are, I believe, smell and touch, not sight. In the natural environment they evolved in, “up” would pretty much always mean escape. Unless they were in a cave one of the only things they would run into going up would be branches, and if you bump a branch you only have to move to the side a tiny bit to avoid it.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Think of how a Roomba moves around a room and gets stuck everywhere? The reason of course is because of the programming is pretty simple. Something like

1) move forward until hit obstacle

2) turn X degrees

3) goto step 1

A fly’s instincts are basically that. There’s no conscious thought or planning around their buzzing. Just instinct evolved from being in nature so being in confined spaces like in a house will have them bump into walls endlessly.