"Mayflies are among the world's oldest winged insects, emerging roughly 300 million years ago long before dinosaurs walked the Earth. Their basic design has changed very little compared with the fossils of their ancestors."
"Male mayflies rely on this bizarre up-and-down flight pattern to figure out who among the swarm is male, and who is female. By flying vertically, males rarely fly horizontally above the swarm, the signature of their female counterpart."
"In further simulations, the scientists found that male mayflies would stop their pursuit of any target that dropped beneath the horizon. You can give them a beach ball, which looks quite different from a female mayfly, and males will try to mate with it."
Mayflies, ancient insects dating back 300 million years, perform a distinctive vertical flight dance. This behavior helps males identify females in swarms. Research from the University of Oxford reveals that males rarely fly horizontally, a trait of females. Experiments show that males will pursue any object that drops below their flight path, indicating a lack of discrimination. This behavior has persisted for millions of years, yet the reasons behind it remain largely unknown.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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