Page 95 - The Mini Horse Magazine 2023 No 1

A

Experiments have shown that bees
are most attracted to large objects
of a uniform color. The researchers
recorded the highest number of
landings of this annoying insect on
horses dressed in a gray suit. Next
in order of popularity were suits
with large black triangles in various
positions, followed by patterns
similar to disordered chessboards.
It has also been confirmed that
contrasting stripes are not very
attractive to insects.

Caro summarizes that among
ungulates, those that have
managed to optically break up
the dark silhouette of their body
are less attractive to insects.
Some hypotheses have not been
confirmed at all, for example, the
idea that the zebra trick is somehow
related to polarized light or that it is B
a kind of optical illusion intended to
confuse bloodthirsty insects.

Scientists are
interested in why

evolution gave

stripes to zebras
and not to other

ungulates today.

For the future, Caro's team is
asking itself another all-important
question. They are interested in
why evolution gave stripes to
zebras and not to other ungulates
today. It won't be easy, there are
many possible answers, from
ecology and phylogeny to the
genetic and molecular level. But
we can probably bet that horses
or other ungulates in disguise will
again play a major role in this.

Miniature Horse Magazine • Issue 1/2023 | 95