Insects that predate aerially usually contrast prey against the sky and attack upwards. However, killer flies (Coenosia attenuata) can attack prey flying below them, performing what we term ‘aerial dives'. During these dives, killer flies accelerate up to 36 m s⁻². Although the trajectories of the killer fly's dives appear highly variable, proportional navigation explains them, as long as the model has the lateral acceleration limit of a real killer fly. The trajectory's steepness is explained by the initial geometry of engagement; steep attacks result from the killer fly taking off when the target is approaching the predator. Under such circumstances, the killer fly dives almost vertically towards the target, and gravity significantly increases its acceleration. Although killer flies usually time their take-off to minimize flight duration, during aerial dives killer flies cannot reach the lateral accelerations necessary to match the increase in speed caused by gravity. Since a close miss still leads the predator closer to the target, and might even slow the prey down, there may not be a selective pressure for killer flies to account for gravity during aerial dives.

在空中捕食的昆虫通常会将猎物与天空对比并向上攻击。然而，杀人蝇（Coenosia attenuata）可以攻击在它们下方飞行的猎物，进行我们所说的“空中俯冲”。在这些俯冲过程中，杀手蝇的加速时间高达 36 ms ^-2。尽管杀手蝇的俯冲轨迹看起来变化很大，但只要模型具有真正杀手蝇的横向加速度限制，比例导航就能解释它们。轨迹的陡度可以通过初始交战几何形状来解释；当目标接近捕食者时，杀手蝇会起飞，从而产生陡峭的攻击。在这种情况下，杀手蝇几乎垂直地向目标俯冲，重力显着增加了它的加速度。尽管杀人蝇通常会安排起飞时间以尽量缩短飞行时间，但在空中俯冲期间，杀人蝇无法达到与重力引起的速度增加相匹配所需的横向加速度。由于近距离的失误仍然会使捕食者更接近目标，甚至可能减慢猎物的速度，因此杀人蝇在空中俯冲时可能不会有选择压力来考虑重力。