Research paper on the topic "Why doesn't a fly fall from the ceiling." How does a fly stay on the ceiling? What macro photography showed

They penetrate everywhere and cause some discomfort to people. Natural agility, allowing 360-degree vision, and many other features, allow the insect to maintain its life and instantly respond to danger. The question of how a fly lands on the ceiling worries not only children, but also adults. For this purpose, nature has endowed it with some features.

What surface can it sit on?

The fly easily sticks to any surface. It can be horizontal, vertical, vertical. It does not slip even from glass and other smooth surfaces. If we consider the option of how a fly stays on a ceiling with wallpaper or other finishing, we can assume that the coating is imperfect.

For small insect legs, any, even very small, tubercle becomes an excellent way to gain a foothold. But it won’t even slide off the same surface, but made of perfectly smooth glass.

Why doesn't a fly fall from the ceiling?

It is very easy to reveal this secret if you look at the structure of her paws through a microscope. A close-up shot will show the following features:

• Presence of 2 claws. They allow her to grab onto microscopic protrusions and hold on for a long time.
• Suckers. They are located at the base of the claws. The suction cup is made in the form of a small pad. On its outer side, the pads are overgrown with ordinary hairs; on the other side, the hairs have very small disc-shaped suckers.
• Sticky substance. At the end of the front legs, a special substance is released during landing. It's sticky and greasy. It is this that allows the individual to hang above the ground and not fall. Exactly enough sticky mixture is released so that it is enough to hold the individual, but not to impede its movement.

Interesting!

An interesting experiment was carried out by researchers. They laid the insects special paper for filtering, which quickly and effectively absorbs any fat. As a result, the substance secreted by the flies was quickly absorbed, and the flies could not gain a foothold.

Soft landing: detailed analysis

To give a better idea of ​​how the landing occurs and why the fall does not occur, consideration of the behavior of the individual at the moment of landing will allow. During the flight, she easily performs various complex pirouettes, which allow her to securely attach to any materials.

Interesting!

The insect does not fly forward, like many others that fly, but backward. Therefore, to kill him, you should aim a little behind.

The fly lands on the ceiling from a loop or from a flip. As a result, it transfers the center of gravity to the front and sticks to the ceiling with its paws. The rest of the body catches up with the front part and seals the fly even tighter.

What macro photography showed

An amazing discovery was made by macro photography observing the behavior of a fly. The insect does not push off from the ceiling to fly. It just relaxes, lets go of the surface and falls down. Then the fly quickly turns over with its belly down, spreads its wings and...

The special structure of their legs, namely several “devices” given by nature, helps flies to hold on and move upside down on various surfaces.

Paw structure

The fly's foot ends in two claws and fine hairs, as well as glands that secrete an adhesive substance.

At first, scientists believed that the fly, thanks to its tiny claws and hairs, clings to the smallest irregularities or bulges, invisible to the human eye, on any surface. But with the development of science and microscopes, it turned out that special glands on the legs, similar to pads, help insects overcome the force of gravity. At one time, these pads were even considered suction cups.

Over time, it turned out that these were not suckers, but glands. A thousandfold magnification helped to see that they secrete a special sticky liquid in which fats and various sugars are mixed. It is this substance that gives flies the ability to literally stick to any surface, including the ceiling, and not fall. Research activities leads in this area Stanislav Gorb(Stanislav Gorb) from the German Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology (Max-Planck-Institut für Entwicklungsbiologie) as part of the project “Biological Attachment Devices for Biomimetics”.

How does a fly come unstuck?

Everyone knows how difficult it is to catch a fly by surprise. If you swing it a little, it instantly takes off. With a jerk, strictly vertically, it will be very difficult for her to peel off the paw, so nature arranged it in such a way that the pad with the glands lags behind the surface gradually, in small areas. You can compare this to tearing off adhesive tape: if you pull the tape straight up along its entire length, it is almost impossible to tear it off, but gradually peeling the tape off from the surface is much easier. This happens in flies too.

In addition, two claws at the ends of the legs help the insect to peel off the pad after gluing it to the surface.

Flies absolutely don’t care what to land on: your monitor glowing in the night, your innocent nose, or the ceiling from which it will not climb down for a long time and stubbornly. Have you ever wondered, how does a fly stay on the ceiling? Of course, it is difficult to classify it as serious, but curiosity is not a vice. In contrast to the excessive intrusiveness of these insects scurrying around everywhere.

For a long time There was an opinion that numerous hairs on their paws helped them to hold on. Various irregularities on the ceiling supposedly helped these insects to cling to them with their hairs and calmly look at everything that was happening from below with truly universal calm. One could believe this: after all, perfectly smooth ceiling surfaces appeared only centuries later (read about the most popular modern ceilings for kitchen).

However, with the development of research instruments and, in particular, microscopes, the theory circulating among ordinary people was smashed to smithereens by the very first in-depth studies of the essence of an unusual issue.

It turns out that there are special glands on the legs of flies that intensively secrete a sticky substance. The pads with which flies cling produce exactly as much glue as the insect needs in order to delight numerous spectators with its presence on the ceiling. Add here its almost negligible weight - and in your mind, like a puzzle, a comprehensive answer to the question of how a fly stays on the ceiling and is practically not afraid of anything will form.

Kostenkova Anna

As a result of the experiments and studies carried out in the research work, the author concludes why m the ear does not fall from the ceiling and vertical surfaces. The work contains a lot interesting material about flies, their varieties, structure, harm and benefits to the environment.

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Research

on the topic

“Why doesn’t a fly fall from the ceiling?”

Prepared

2nd grade student

MBOU "Secondary school No. 3, Shebekino, Belgorod region"

Kostenkova Anna.

Supervisor

primary school teacher

Rubanova Oksana Viktorovna

Introduction

Research topic: “Why doesn’t a fly fall from the ceiling?”

Research problem:

These are stupid people! We don't even know

What good can a fly do?

After all, flies don’t just sit on jam.

They produce fertilizer for us.

A fly can also bring healing.

For birds, flies are a tasty treat.

But here’s what I don’t understand about flies:

How do flies stay on the ceiling?

Problem! I decided to reveal this secret,

Research what I don't know about.

Based on the problem raised, it was determinedpurpose of the study:

FIND OUT WHY THE FLY DOESN'T FALL FROM THE CEILING.

Objectives of our research:

• Get to know the structure of a fly;
• Observe her behavior;
• Study the experience of scientists on this topic;
• Find out what types of flies exist in nature;

Having determined the topic, problem, goals and objectives of the study, we began to put forward hypotheses. To do this, we conducted a survey among students primary school, listened to the opinions of adults, studied materials from encyclopedias and scientific publications. Thus, we have put forward the following HYPOTHESES:

• Suppose that the fly does not fall from the ceiling because its wings help it to do so.
• Let's say that a fly does not fall from the ceiling because it has special claws on its legs - hooks.
• It's possible that the insect's legs have tiny devices that secrete droplets of a sticky substance that helps it stick to the ceiling.

Initially, we decided to study in detail the structure of the fly, turning to encyclopedias about animals for help.

We learned that flies belong to:

TYPE – ARTHOPOD;

CLASS – INSECTS;

ORDER – BIWERLES.

Diptera rank first among insects in terms of numbers and diversity. About 100 thousand species are known.

The fly consists of:

Heads with large facets eyes, two antennas - these are the organs of smell, proboscis- with the help of which she feeds on liquid food.

The chest, on which there is one pair of wings for flight, and another (small) pair of wings for balance (these are the halteres).

Abdomen;

Three pairs of paws with claws.

Consider HYPOTHESIS 1 : “Suppose that a fly does not fall from the ceiling because its wings help it to do so.”

This hypothesis was NOT CONFIRMED. We conducted an experiment. We placed the fly in a confined space (under a transparent cup) and observed it for a while. As a result of the experiment, we were convinced that while the fly sits on a vertical surface or on the ceiling, its wings are motionless. Therefore, they cannot help it stay on the surface.

Consider HYPOTHESIS 2: “ Let’s say that a fly doesn’t fall from the ceiling because it has special claws on its legs—hooks.”

We carried out the proof of this hypothesis in a lesson of the extracurricular association “I am a researcher”, which I have been attending for 2 years now. Using a microscope, we carefully examined the “Fly's Foot” preparation. We saw clearlythat the insect's legs end in two claws and many hairs. Apparently these claws and hairs help them stay on various surfaces. These claws typically grip bumps on rough surfaces. They serve as support points for tiny claws.

But then we thought about the fact that not all surfaces on which a fly lands are rough. After all, there are many absolutely smooth, glossy surfaces around us. For example, glass, mirror, plastic. It is impossible for a hair or claw to catch on such a surface. But at the same time, we see that flies sit on such surfaces just as easily as on rough ones.

Thus, we came to the conclusion that 2the hypothesis was NOT CONFIRMED. Apparently it’s not the claws – the hooks.

We moved on to HYPOTHESIS 3: “It is possible that the insect’s legs have tiny devices that secrete droplets of a sticky substance that helps it stick to the ceiling.”.

To prove this hypothesis, we turned to the Internet.

The obvious and the incredible surround a person everywhere. Take, for example, the situation when a fly sits on the ceiling. After all, according to the law of nature, it must fall. Or did the fly sneeze on gravity?
Scientists previously explained this discrepancy by the fact that microscopic fibers on the legs help the insect stay on the walls and ceiling. With them the fly is able to cling to the slightest irregularities.
But it turned out that the scientists were mistaken. The point is completely different. Bypass the law universal gravity The fly is helped by sticky “chewing gum” on its legs. A microscope with a thousand-fold magnification helped scientists discover the “fly” secret. The fact is that on the insect’s legs there are tiny gland pads that secrete droplets of a sticky substance from a mixture of sugars and fats.Moreover, just enough of this sticky substance is released so that the fly can tear off its leg when walking.
A d va claw, help to tear off the fly's leg after gluing. So for an insect the problem is not to land on the ceiling, but to break away or walk on it.

Having become acquainted with this information, we once again turned to the microscope and indeed saw not only claws, but also small pads on the fly’s foot.

Then we decided to carry out the experiment proposed by British scientists.

The fly was first forced to crawl on blotting paper soaked in a fat-dissolving substance. And then they put a fly under a glass and we saw that the fly could not stay on the glass."

Thus, we came to the conclusion that 3the hypothesis was CONFIRMED.

Conclusion

As a result of the experiments and studies carried out, we can conclude that:

The fly does not fall from the ceiling and vertical surfaces becauseOn the insect's legs there are tiny gland pads that secrete droplets of a sticky substance from a mixture of sugars and fats. EJust enough of that sticky substance is released so that the fly can tear off its leg when walking. A d va claw, help to tear off the fly's leg after gluing.

During our research, we learned a lot of interesting things about flies, including the fact that flies bring many benefits, for example, they process waste, turning it into fertilizer. Or, they are able to produce bacteria that fight other pathogenic bacteria. Well, for birds, a fly is a delicacy.

Therefore, let's not forget that all living beings on this planet are part of a single ecological system Earth.

Application.

Types of flies

The housefly, unlike some other species, does not bite, but its presence in the house is in itself unpleasant. Some types of flies can also bite, such as horseflies. It attacks livestock (e.g.horses ), and also on people. The bites of its sharp proboscis are extremely painful. Only female horse flies drink blood. Science knows about 3,000 species of horseflies; Before mating, males often gather in flocks. Both females and males feed on the nectar of flowers, while pollinating flowering plants.
Insects use all sorts of methods of mimicry - from imitating inanimate objects to different types camouflage coloring. Another popular type of defense is imitation of poisonous and dangerous creatures.

This is what the squad members didscorpion flies- common scorpions. These inhabitants of shady, damp parks are greenish in color and have two pairs of transparent wings covered with a dark pattern. The long abdomen of the male scorpion ends in miniature pincer-like appendages, and the last segments of the abdomen itself are swollen, thrown back and painted in a bright, rich red color. You immediately recognize the “prototype” - a dangerous poisonous “tail”Scorpio . Females do not have such good mimicry: the last segments of the abdomen are not swollen, but are also colored red - bad camouflage is better than no camouflage!

Flies of the hoverfly familychose a role model among their relatives - the Hymenoptera (wasps, bees,bumblebees ). The bright yellow-black color of the wasps screams: “Don’t touch it, it will get worse, the owner is poisonous!” And that's why the birds don't touch them. There are about 4,500 species of hoverflies, or syrphid flies. Syrphid larvae are unusually diverse. The larva of the common bee lives and feeds at the bottom of reservoirs. The last three segments of her abdomen form a long (up to 15 cm!) respiratory tube. Darkness larvae that live in the wood of dead trunks have developed special scrapers from their spiracles, with which they scrape hard wood.
The larvae of many syrphids live in aphid colonies and are their fierce enemies - one adult larva can suck out 200 aphids in a day. Larvae of hoverflies from the genus Microdon live in anthills and appearance completely unlike fly larvae. For a long time they were mistaken forshellfish . Bumblebee larvae live in bumblebee nests and feed on dead bumblebee larvae and waste. And adult bumblebees are very similar to bumblebees. Hoverflies can hover motionlessly in the air. They can move by sliding in air currents up, down, back, forward and sideways. Hoverflies can hover in the air for a long time, flying up to flowering plants, the nectar of which they feed on, thereby bringing benefits by pollinating flowers. They have extremely large eyes. In flight, as their name suggests, they make gurgling sounds.

Another fly chose a hard-working bee to imitate.Ilnitsa bee-eaterIt is not named so by chance: its larvae develop all summer in the silt of ponds before turning into flies in August, and an adult fly is like a bee in a pod. And not only in color, but also in behavior: it also “drags” its legs behind it when landing on a flower and taking off, as if weighed down with pollen.

Tolkuntsy got their name because males, during the period of courtship with females, crowd in whole flocks in the air. In countries with temperate climates, these dances can be seen throughout the summer. Pushing males bring gifts to females (usually small flies of another species), which the females eat during mating. However, males are greedy and often take their gifts from one female in order to give them to another before mating. Some even kill members of their own species in order to present them as gifts to the female. When attacking a prey, they cling to it with their strong bristly legs; In appearance, tolkuns resemble robber flies, but, unlike them, they have a rounder head.

Carrion flies can only develop inwet fell until it dried out. Therefore, their larvae: develop and grow within just a few days, this is especially noticeable in hot climates. It is not without reason that it is believed that the offspring of one pair of flies can eat a bull faster than a lion can.

There are also “honest” predators among flies. Muh-ktyrey Everyone has seen them - unattractive and long-bodied, they are colored brown and covered with hairs of different lengths, as if they had faded. Very often they warm themselves somewhere on the wall during hot hours, gaining strength before hunting. Ktyrs hunt small flies and other insects, evenspiders , which are deftly picked up on the fly right from the web. In early spring you can watch the “weddings” of ktyri: couples fly, one fly clings to the back of the other, they make circles over the clearing, as if admiring the landscape. Sometimes you see a more amazing sight: four flies fly at once, interlocking with their long legs. Just demonstration performances of aerial acrobats!

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Slide captions:

Why doesn't a fly fall from the ceiling? Research work of a student of class 2 "B" of MBOU Secondary School No. 3 Anna Kostenkova

Research problem The weather has already turned warm house fly crawling on the glass. I just woke up from my winter sleep, New life she begins. We talk about flies without immediately thinking that a fly on its legs spreads infection. For some reason we don’t like flies from birth, and how easily we destroy defenseless flies.

Research problem These people are stupid! We don’t even know what good a fly can be. After all, flies don’t just sit on jam. They produce fertilizer for us. A fly can also bring healing. For birds, flies are a tasty treat. But here's what I don't understand about flies: How do flies stay on the ceiling? Problem! I decided to reveal this secret, to explore what I don’t know about.

Purpose of the study: Find out why the fly does not fall from the ceiling? Objectives of the study - To get acquainted with the structure of the fly. - Observe her behavior. - Consider the experience of scientists on this topic. - Explore additional material on this topic.

The hypothesis was not confirmed Observation of a fly The wings are motionless Perhaps these are wings? Wings do not help the fly stay on the surface

What if these are claws - hooks? The hypothesis was not confirmed. Holding with the help of claws - hooks is possible only on a rough surface, and not on a glossy one.

Could it be a sticky substance? Adhesive substance: a mixture of sugar and fat. Pads - glands.

Experience of British scientists Apply a liquid that removes fat Place the fly in a confined space Transfer the fly under a clean glass The fly has difficulty climbing onto a vertical surface

Conclusion 3 hypothesis was confirmed. The fly does not fall from the ceiling because the insect’s legs have tiny pads - glands that secrete droplets of a sticky substance consisting of a mixture of sugar and fat. And the claws help the fly to tear its leg off the surface after gluing.

like a fly holds its little paws on the ceiling and got the best answer

Answer from Margosh Milyutin[guru]
Crawling along the ceiling, the fly relies on myriads of thin hairs, which, due to frictional and attractive forces (identical to those of the “gecko” or “spider”), are held among the roughness of the coating. On a completely smooth surface, only adhesion is used.
All these hairs grow from a thin and very flexible spatula that maximizes the contact area by adapting to the surface.
One of important points In hypothetical devices of this kind, the strategy of unsticking is: what to do when you need to not only hang upside down, but also move on?
The answer to this important question was found by Gorb's comrades. They watched hundreds of moments of flies taking off in slow motion video playback. And it turned out that the fly has not one strategy for this, but four.
By moving the legs further from the body, the fly causes the flexible shoulder blades to move in waves and bend, which reduces their contact with the surface and leads to the release of the legs.
The second option is to rotate the leg around an axis perpendicular to the surface, twisting the same sticky “devices.”
The third is the use of small claws at the end of the legs to forcibly tear off the shoulder blades.
The fourth is simply the brute force of the wings' thrust, tearing the entire insect off the ceiling or wall

Answer from ACCESSOR[guru]
Micro bristles for microcracks!! !
There are no suckers there, suckers are the domain of mollusks!! !
And not only on the ceiling, but also on the glass!! !
Good luck!!!

Answer from Fox[guru]
She probably has suction cups on her paws. By the way, there are such frogs...

Answer from KRASAVCHEG RUSSKA I AM!!!®[guru]
Small suction cups on the paws... Learn biology...))))

Answer from User deleted[active]
It seems to me that some kind of sophisticated law of gravity is definitely at work here

Answer from User deleted[guru]
They are sticky. It’s not noticeable to us, but it’s enough for a fly.

Answer from User deleted[guru]
Instead of saliva, she has superglue. You lick your paws and you'll drive away the horseradish. hee hee

Answer from Yaisa[guru]
She has suction cups on her paws

Answer from Bashkirova Svetlana[guru]
Sometimes with great pleasure...

Answer from Oliya Mukhamedshina[newbie]
thanks to the claws and pads at the end of the paws))

Answer from 3 answers[guru]

Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: how does a fly hold on to the ceiling with its small paws