What do stalk-eyed flies do?
Stalk-eyed flies are up to a centimetre long and have a largely terrestrial habit. Adults feed on microbes from decaying plants or animals and their larvae eat decaying vegetation. Figure 1A Cyrtodiopsis dalmanni mating pair, illustrating extreme exaggeration and sexual dimorphism in eyespan.
Where do stalk-eyed flies live?
The adults of the one species in North America (Sphyracephala brevicornis) are sometimes found on skunk cabbage. In all species the larvae live and feed on wet organic matter in marsh or bog habitats. All other species are tropical.
What do stalk-eyed flies eat?
Stalk-eyed flies are up to a centimetre long and have a largely terrestrial habit. Adults feed on microbes from decaying plants or animals and their larvae eat decaying vegetation.
Is stalk-eyed fly natural selection?
Stalk-eyed flies of the family Diopsidae exhibit a unique form of hypercephaly, which has evolved under both natural and sexual selection.
Why do stalk eyed flies have such long eyes?
Handicap selection Genetic variation underlies the response to environmental stress, such as variable food quality, of male sexual ornaments, such as the increased eye span, in the stalk-eyed fly. In these populations, males which carry a gene to suppresses X chromosome meiotic drive have longer eyestalks.
Do snails have eyestalks?
Eyestalks are a specialized type of tentacle. In slugs and snails, these tentacles will regrow if severely damaged, and in some species, are retractable. Crustaceans also have eyestalks, consisting of two segments.
Why do stalk eyed flies have eyestalks?
What are fly eyes?
House fly eyes are compound organs that are comprised of thousands of individual lenses. House fly eyes can recognize even the slightest movements in a wide field. This allows the fly to see a far wider range, as well as detect and react to movement at a quicker pace than species with simple eyes.
Why do slugs retract their eyes?
Slugs (and snails) do have eyes, two of them, they sit on top of two tentacles (called eye stalks) on the top of their heads! They can retract their eye tentacles to protect their eyes from potentially harmful touch.
How do snails retract their eyes?
9) Why do snails eyes retract when they hit things? When an animal with an eyestalk feels threatened, such as when the stalk is touched, it will retract its eyestalks, thus bringing its eyes close to its head in order to protect them. It does this by pumping blood in or out of the eyestalk.
What are eye gnats?
Eye gnats are small flies, 1/16 to 1/8 inch long, with shiny black or gray bodies and yellow to orange-brown legs. The adult female will persistently attempt to feed around eyes and wounds, helping to distinguish eye gnats from other small flies that are not attracted to eyes, such as fungus gnats.
What is special about fly eyes?
A fly’s eyes are immobile, but their position and spherical shape give the fly an almost 360-degree view of its surroundings. Fly eyes have no pupils and cannot control how much light enters the eye or focus the images. On the other hand, a fly’s vision is especially good at picking up form and movement.