Wearing striped clothing could help protect holidaymakers from insect bites - this is the reason why zebras are black and white, scientists have suggested.
Researchers claimed the zebra's markings evolved to repel insects such as horseflies and tsetse flies, which tend to avoid striped surfaces.
The scientists said the findings could help tourists in hot countries avoid being bitten, though the type of surface and material could alter the stripes' effectiveness.
"A T-shirt may help somewhat," said Tim Caro, professor of wildlife biology at the University of California, Davis and the study's lead author.
"Certainly if you are going to buy a T-shirt, make sure the stripes are thin. Don't buy a striped jumper too quickly. Black and white striped surfaces reflect different sorts of visible light, but they also reflect different sorts of polarised light which we can't see but flies can."
Varying explanations for zebra stripes have been proposed since Victorian naturalists debated the issue, including camouflage, heat management or some kind of social function.
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, mapped seven species of zebra, horse and ass and recorded their markings. It compared the animals' geographic reach with variables such as woodland habitats, the range of predators, temperatures and the numbers of ectoparasites such as tsetse flies. The scientists found that avoiding bloodsucking flies was the most consistent explanation for zebras' marked coats.
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