# Maximum Flying Altitude for Flies, Mosquitos etc. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 18, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331 "2018-06-18T19:00:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/21 "2018-06-19T14:24:45Z")
I don’t think they are unable to fly to a certain elevation, but their search algorithms probably don’t include “Go up, up, up!” as an option. If you are flying along randomly, or following some sort of attractive spoor (the smell of blood, poop or extra CO2, depending on your species), and hit a vertical obstacle, you might go up a bit and down a bit, left a bit and right a bit, but you’re not going to keep going up, up and up unless you specifically evolved to look for snow leopard poop. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/22 "2018-06-19T14:45:43Z")
Birds that live entirely on insects fly routinely at high enough altitudes that they are only dots in the sky (swifts and swallows), so they must be finding an abundance of flying insects at several hundred feet. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/23 "2018-06-19T14:55:45Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Birds that live entirely on insects fly routinely at high enough altitudes that they are only dots in the sky (swifts and swallows), so they must be finding an abundance of flying insects at several hundred feet. 😕 I live entirely on cheeseburgers and beer, and I routinely take walks in city parks; it doesn’t mean I’m finding an abundance of cheeseburgers and beer there, it just means I don’t need cheeseburgers and beer every moment of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/24 "2018-06-19T15:03:50Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Birds that live entirely on insects fly routinely at high enough altitudes that they are only dots in the sky (swifts and swallows), so they must be finding an abundance of flying insects at several hundred feet. Nominated for **speculative post of the week.** ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/25 "2018-06-19T15:10:34Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > I seem to remember that back when I lived in New York City, apartments above the 6th floor were not furnished with window screens. No central air either as it was the 60’s. I was only 17 or so and might be remembering incorrectly. Just to add to this unlikely (no offense, **Gary** ) avenue of inductive reasoning, “residential buildings which max out at 6 floors” is usually in NYC referring to the [New Law Tenements](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Law_Tenement) (dumbbell tenements), still all over the place and now often expensive. The amount of quality-of-life furnishings both expected and legally demanded can be expected to be minimal. (I lived in one for a decade; my friend lives in a 7-story one, where the contractor wanted more tenants but not the mandatory elevator, etc., but got away with it by calling the first floor the basement.) Re “central air,” the 1901 law was about giving any air! > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > 😕 I live entirely on cheeseburgers and beer, and I routinely take walks in city parks; it doesn’t mean I’m finding an abundance of cheeseburgers and beer there, it just means I don’t need cheeseburgers and beer every moment of my life. Correlation, causation. Excellent syllogism. ---
**Author:** ![Razncain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@Razncain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razncain)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/26 "2018-06-19T15:14:17Z")
From my experience, insects are very, very rare up high judging from the windshield and the insect splatter on my little airplane. Only down low taking off and landing just a few hundred feet or less from runway is when I can get plenty, even worse when sun is starting to go down in summer. Around ground level even if in the mountains, as long as there is vegetation, I’m sure there will be plenty of insects including the flying variety. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/27 "2018-06-19T15:19:04Z")
Couldn’t that be because of different wind gusts and vectors due to the speed of the airplane, rather than its location? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/28 "2018-06-19T15:26:13Z")
I live at 11,200 feet in elevation. While we don’t have a lot of insects in general (one of the reasons I like it) I assure you that we have mosquitoes, flies, butterflies and such. So air density isn’t a problem for them at 11-2. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/29 "2018-06-19T15:40:05Z")
I think this settles the limits: **[Mosquito Survives in Space for 18 Months](https://astroengine.com/2009/02/22/mosquito-survives-in-space-for-18-months/)** According to results from a Russian biology experiment on the International Space Station (ISS), a mosquito has survived the rigours of space for 18 months. However, this little winged insect didn’t do it inside the comfort of the ISS, he did it outside, in a small can. The experiment was carried out by the same Russian-Japanese collaboration that brought us Space Beer from space-grown barley (I think you know my feelings about that endeavour), to study the effects of microgravity on various organisms and plants. However, in this case, our little mosquito drew the short straw and was attached to the outside of the station… The article is informative and witty. For those concerned, Anatoly Grigoryev, Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said “We brought him back to Earth. He is alive, and his feet are moving.” But I don’t know about the zoology of the biting little bastards most posters here, I presume, have a relationship with. The thing was “a unique, although short-lived, African mosquito, whose larvae develop only in a humid environment.” Of course, at that altitude he wasn’t in any shape to sting, let alone move his tiny feets. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/30 "2018-06-19T16:44:21Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Scientists tested the bees in a vacuum chamber and found that they could survive and continue flying at simulated altitudes up to close to 30,000 feet. How do they fly in a vacuum? Jetpacks? ---
**Author:** ![pieceoftheuniverse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7993a0/32.png) [@pieceoftheuniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pieceoftheuniverse)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/31 "2018-06-19T16:51:47Z")
I am reminded of this article (I may have heard it on the radio) about the [bug highway](https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2011/06/01/128389587/look-up-the-billion-bug-highway-you-cant-see): > [@](#): > > Sometimes insects and spiders need to leave where they are and go someplace else for food, for sex, for space. For a variety of reasons bugs disperse. > [@](#): > > Beginning in 1926, Tanglefoot-coated slides were affixed to airplanes to collect insects, with famed aviator Charles Lindbergh contributing to the data-collection effort by carrying sticky glass slides on his 1933 flight crossing the Atlantic at 2,460 to 5,410 feet and over Greenland at 7,870 to 12,135 feet. ---
**Author:** ![Razncain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@Razncain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razncain)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/32 "2018-06-19T17:50:44Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Couldn’t that be because of different wind gusts and vectors due to the speed of the airplane, rather than its location? When I practice slow flight a few thousand feet off the ground I still don’t get much in the way of insect splatter on my windshield any more so than at high speed. > [@pieceoftheuniverse](#): > > I am reminded of this article (I may have heard it on the radio) about the [bug highway](https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2011/06/01/128389587/look-up-the-billion-bug-highway-you-cant-see): Fascinating link, surprised there are that many that are aloft b/c on long trips, I rarely have to wipe off hardly any on my plane with most accumulating on TO&L. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/33 "2018-06-19T18:49:53Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > How do they fly in a vacuum? Jetpacks? 🙂 Good question, and a great image if correct. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/34 "2018-06-19T18:55:02Z")
> [@pieceoftheuniverse](#): > > I am reminded of this article (I may have heard it on the radio) about the [bug highway](https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2011/06/01/128389587/look-up-the-billion-bug-highway-you-cant-see): … > > > [@](#): > > > > Sometimes insects and spiders need to leave where they are and go someplace else for food, for sex, for space… This exactly parallels the life cycle of the typical New Yorker, as I heard it years ago: “Everyone in New York is either looking for a new job, a new lover, or a new apartment.” ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/35 "2018-06-19T19:30:15Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > How do they fly in a vacuum? Jetpacks? Spiders fitted with jetpacks sounds like hardcore nightmare fuel. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/36 "2018-06-19T19:41:28Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > How do they fly in a vacuum? Jetpacks? Bombardier beetles can shoot a jet of hot liquid out through their butt, so you might be on to something. As much fun as jet-packing insects might be (or jet-butt insects for that matter), I’m sure they just only drew a partial vacuum in the chamber so that they could simulate the air pressure at different altitudes. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/37 "2018-06-19T20:05:22Z")
And they would have painted stripes on the bottom of that chamber. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/38 "2018-06-19T20:07:12Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Bombardier beetles can shoot a jet of hot liquid out through their butt, so you might be on to something. > > … Somebody page **Colibri**. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/39 "2018-06-19T20:13:46Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Somebody page **Colibri**. T’ain’t no big deal. I’ve shot hot liquid out through my butt a bunch of times. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331/40 "2018-06-19T20:18:23Z")
An even funnier image, if gross. Remind me not to go on an EVA with you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-flying-altitude-for-flies-mosquitos-etc/816331.md?page=3)