| We live in dairy country so in the summer there is an | | | | developers of the robot fly say it may turn out to be a |
| adequate supply of houseflies. A few ounces of cow | | | | better probe of the fly visual system than experiments |
| manure can support hundreds of fly larva. My son, | | | | with live flies or computer simulations. The robot fly's |
| who is a veterinarian here, always gives a horde of | | | | eye may also benefit robotics, because its analog |
| flies a free ride in his pickup from some dairy farm to | | | | design is fast, very stable, and uses little power.” |
| his home. My grandkids are experts at swatting flies. | | | | This little gem was taken from Only the first paragraph |
| Houseflies know all about winter and they are against | | | | of the article was there, so I didn’t get the meat |
| it. In the fall, they try to get into my house for safety | | | | of the thing. |
| from the frigid cold. When they get in, they hide under | | | | The fly has a compound eye. You will definitely want |
| my desk or table or high on the ceiling, hoping not to | | | | to go to to see how the eye works. The bottom line is |
| get smacked by a fly swatter or a rolled up | | | | that you can not creep up on a fly. He literally has |
| newspaper. | | | | eyes that see in every direction. While you can see |
| By Thanksgiving Day most houseflies have gone to | | | | only one of him, he can see a zillion of you. |
| the great beyond. Some haven’t. These are the | | | | This now leads to our strategy for getting that last |
| last pesky half-dozen that we just can’t get. | | | | winter fly before he dies of old age. We fly fighters |
| Finally, we get four out of the six and we think we | | | | don’t consider the fly dying of old age as sport. |
| have got them all. But by Christmas there is still one | | | | Here are my suggestions for getting rid of that smart |
| the size of a boxcar flying around and driving us | | | | winter fly: |
| bonkers. Finally he is gone having died from old age or | | | | 1. Go down to the surplus store or get on the Internet |
| we got lucky with our copy of Farm Journal. | | | | and get yourself a pair of night vision goggles. Mr. Fly |
| January was peaceful. No flies! Then last night (in | | | | knows you can’t see in the dark. You might be |
| February), when I was on my way to bed, a fly | | | | able to creep up on him. At they have a nice set for |
| showed up in my bathroom. He probably had been | | | | only $3545.00. You’ll have to hurry. They are |
| sleeping in some corner or nook and now he was | | | | going fast. |
| hungry. He buzzed me while I looked for someway to | | | | 2. By a paintball gun. It may not kill him but it will blind him |
| get him. Then I saw him hiding on the ceiling. He was | | | | when the paint covers his eyes. I suggest the BT |
| gone when I came back from my wife’s | | | | Combat Kit for only $144.99 at It’s a dandy. With |
| bathroom with a can of her hair spray. No hairspray | | | | night vision optics you will kill ’em dead. |
| for him. | | | | 3. House flies have natural enemies. Read a great |
| With the fly like last night, I locked him in the bathroom | | | | exposé at [ I like the wasp method. |
| thinking that I would get him this morning or at least by | | | | That’s why we have wasps on our back porch |
| the end of March. There was neither hide nor hair of | | | | and one wasp nest in the bird feeder on the front |
| him this morning. I know that he is lurking somewhere. | | | | lawn. My wife wants me to get rid of these wasps but |
| Next to whales, porpoises, and parrots, flies are the | | | | I say “Let ’em live!” I tried to knock |
| smartest critters on the planet. What chance has a | | | | out a wasp nest when I was a kid. Enough said. (Hell |
| human got against a fly? (To get on my smart list a | | | | yes, I got stung!) I’m going to let a few more |
| critter must not have been engaged in war for the last | | | | wasps come in the house this summer. When that |
| ten days.) | | | | smart winter fly shows up, we’ll be ready for |
| You can read about flies at [ Don’t read this just | | | | him (or her). |
| before dinnertime. (For those in Utah or Idaho, | | | | Well, that aught to get you started. |
| don’t read this just before suppertime.) The | | | | I think I told you in another article that I’ve had |
| referenced article does not tell you about the most | | | | scientific experience with houseflies. If you pin them on |
| important part of the fly although it does show you | | | | a whirligig and let them fly, their body temperature rises |
| everything in a highly-magnified image. That is the eye. | | | | 4 Fahrenheit degrees. I learned this when working with |
| There is a great image of the eye of a housefly at | | | | Dr. Wayne Rowley at Iowa State University. My |
| You will want to look at that beauty. However, there is | | | | contribution was the iron-constantan thermocouples |
| no text explaining the image other than how it was | | | | we stuck in their abdomans and the voltmeter we |
| obtained. | | | | used to determine their temperatures. |
| The California Institute of Technology has developed a | | | | This suggests another way to get rid of a pesky fly |
| “new tool that may help them unravel the | | | | that is smarter than you. Get him moving and |
| secrets of a fly's agility: an analog electronic circuit that | | | | don’t let him stop. He sooner or later will run out |
| models a key part of the fly's visual system and is built | | | | of gas and drop to the floor. Then you can step on |
| into a rudimentary robot so that it can interact with the | | | | him (unless he’s behind the toilet where you |
| real world, which was developed at the California | | | | can’t reach him). |
| Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena. The | | | | |