Research suggests that the same stripes that may protect zebras from horseflies can also protect humans. Scientists in Hungary conducted a study in which they placed mannequins of different skin colors out in a horsefly-infested meadow. Some of the mannequins from each skin color were painted with stripes. The scientists counted how many flies stuck to the glue on the mannequins and found that regardless of skin color, the striped mannequins attracted fewer of the blood-sucking insects. Body paint stripes are typically used for social and cultural reasons among various indigenous tribes in Africa, Australia and Papua New Guinea.
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