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Articles on Flies

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A floral scent can be enjoyable for a person, but it has an important job for the flower. Richard L. Harkess

Why do flowers smell?

Not all flowers smell good, to people at least, but their scents are a way to attract pollinators.
‘Portrait of a Woman of the Hofer Family,’ Swabian artist, c. 1470, and a picture showing a fly on U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence during the Oct. 7 debate at University of Utah in Salt Lake City. (Wikimedia Commons/AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Mike Pence’s fly: From Renaissance portraits to Salvador Dalí, artists used flies to make a point about appearances

Flies have long held symbolic meaning in the history of art. In portraits made in Renaissance Europe, the presence of a fly symbolizes the transience of human life.
Scientific testing has zeroed in on the advantages of a zebra’s striped coat. Tim Caro

Zebra’s stripes are a no fly zone for flies

How the zebra got its stripes is not only a just-so story, but an object of scientific inquiry. New research suggests that stripes help zebras evade biting flies and the deadly diseases they carry.

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