Topic: Biology

Deer keds, a type of blood-feeding fly, change their lifestyle after finding a host. They reduce their visual sensitivity and redirect energy to functions like digestion and reproduction.

This blood-feeding fly, known as deer keds, has an interesting behavior. When it finds a suitable host, such as a deer, its lifestyle changes dramatically. The fly permanently sheds its wings and spends the rest of its life moving through fur and feeding on blood.

Scientists from Aberystwyth University and the University of Florence studied these flies to understand how they adapt to this change. They found that after settling on a host, deer keds reduce their investment in vision and redirect energy towards functions like digestion and reproduction.

The researchers focused on genes associated with visual sensitivity, known as opsins. They compared gene activity before and after the flies shed their wings and found that the flies' visual systems respond to this change. Dr. Roger Santer from Aberystwyth University explained: 'We found that a flying deer ked's visual system is much like that of a tsetse fly, which famously hunt out mammal hosts in Africa. However, after a deer ked loses its wings and becomes an ectoparasite, activity of its opsin genes reduces to around half the previous level.' This suggests that the flies do not lose vision entirely, but their visual sensitivity is reduced.

The study provides new insights into how parasites adjust their sensory systems when their lifestyles change dramatically. The researchers say a better understanding of how deer keds and other biting flies use their senses could eventually contribute to improved monitoring and control strategies.

Why It Matters

Understanding how animals adapt to changes in their environment can help us develop more effective ways to monitor and control diseases spread by these animals.

Key Facts

• Deer keds are a type of blood-feeding fly that permanently sheds its wings after finding a host.
• The flies reduce their visual sensitivity after settling on a host, redirecting energy towards functions like digestion and reproduction.
• The researchers studied deer keds at different points in their life cycle to understand how they adapt to this change.

Key Terms

Opsins

Genes associated with visual sensitivity

Implications

Understanding how animals adapt to changes in their environment can help us develop more effective ways to monitor and control diseases spread by these animals.