By Colin Fernandez Science Correspondent For The Daily Mail
Published: 00:01 GMT, 16 January 2019 | Updated: 00:01 GMT, 16 January 2019
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How the zebra got its stripes is a perennial topic of debate.
While some scientists claim the black and white stripes act as camouflage, others say that they deter insects.
Researchers studying the subject say that stripes have not only been shown to deter horseflies in zebras - but many primitive tribes have also learned the trick and use stripy bodypaint to prevent the painful bites of the blood-sucking parasites.
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Stripes work scatter the light and make it harder for the horseflies to see targets and many primitive tribes also use stripy bodypaint to prevent the painful bites (stock photo)
To test the theory, researchers painted mannequins with white stripes similar to those used in body painting by tribal peoples all over the world.
They found that, just as with previous experiments with zebras, the horseflies stayed away.
The experiments were carried out in Hungary where there were 'numerous horsefly species' in the summer months.
The stripes work by scattering light, making it harder for the horseflies to see the target.
Writing in a Royal Society Journal, the authors said: 'Our brown human model was 10 times more attractive to horseflies than the white-striped brown model.'
They added: 'White-striped bodypaintings, such as those used by African and Australian people, may serve to deter horseflies, which is an advantageous byproduct of these bodypaintings that could lead to reduced irritation and disease
