The tethered flight performance of a laboratory population of Triatoma infestans (Klug) (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

AbstractThe flight performance of a laboratory population of Triatoma infestans (Klug) was tested on a flight balance. Bugs adopted a typical flight posture which is described. They were capable of steady flight and produced reasonable amounts of lift. Flight durations were generally short, but capacity for flight rose to a peak in the third week after adult eclosion with the longest recorded flight being one of 2 h 40 min by a male. Sexual differences were slight; males had a slightly higher mean wing-beat frequency (57·8 Hz against 55·6 Hz), and a few more females than males made longer flights. Differences were noted between short and long fliers; the latter producing significantly more lift and showing signs of a flight pattern divisible into rising, steady and falling phases. The short fliers showed only rising and falling phases. Lift and wing-beat frequency were correlated, but it is evident that lift also depends on other variables such as stroke-plane angle, body angle and wing-beat amplitude, which are discussed.

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Wing damage affects flight kinematics but not flower tracking performance in hummingbird hawkmoths

10.1101/2020.08.16.252759 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Klara Kihlström ◽

Brett Aiello ◽

Eric J. Warrant ◽

Simon Sponberg ◽

Anna Stöckl

Keyword(s):

Lift Force ◽

Beat Frequency ◽

Force Production ◽

Insect Species ◽

Flight Performance ◽

Wing Beat ◽

Wing Beat Frequency ◽

High Acceleration ◽

Wing Damage ◽

The Many

The integrity of their wings is crucial to the many insect species that spend distinct portions of their life in flight. How insects cope with the consequences of wing damage is therefore a central question when studying how robust flight performance is possible with such fragile chitinous wings. It has been shown in a variety of insect species that the loss in lift-force production resulting from wing damage is generally compensated by an increase in wing beat frequency rather than amplitude. The consequences of wing damage for flight performance, however, are less well understood, and vary considerably between species and behavioural tasks. One hypothesis reconciling the varying results is that wing damage might affect fast flight manoeuvres with high acceleration, but not slower ones. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the effect of wing damage on the manoeuvrability of hummingbird hawkmoths (Macroglossum stellatarum) tracking a motorised flower. This assay allowed us to sample a range of movements at different temporal frequencies, and thus assess whether wing damage affected faster or slower flight manoeuvres. We show that hummingbird hawkmoths compensate for the loss in lift force mainly by increasing wing beat amplitude, yet with a significant contribution of wing beat frequency. We did not observe any effects of wing damage on flight manoeuvrability at either high or low temporal frequencies.

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Wing damage affects flight kinematics but not flower tracking performance in hummingbird hawkmoths

Journal of Experimental Biology ◽

10.1242/jeb.236240 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 224 (4) ◽

pp. jeb236240

Author(s):

Klara Kihlström ◽

Brett Aiello ◽

Eric Warrant ◽

Simon Sponberg ◽

Anna Stöckl

Keyword(s):

Lift Force ◽

Beat Frequency ◽

Force Production ◽

Insect Species ◽

Flight Performance ◽

Wing Beat ◽

Wing Beat Frequency ◽

High Acceleration ◽

Wing Damage ◽

The Many

ABSTRACTWing integrity is crucial to the many insect species that spend distinct portions of their life in flight. How insects cope with the consequences of wing damage is therefore a central question when studying how robust flight performance is possible with such fragile chitinous wings. It has been shown in a variety of insect species that the loss in lift-force production resulting from wing damage is generally compensated by an increase in wing beat frequency rather than amplitude. The consequences of wing damage for flight performance, however, are less well understood, and vary considerably between species and behavioural tasks. One hypothesis reconciling the varying results is that wing damage might affect fast flight manoeuvres with high acceleration, but not slower ones. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the effect of wing damage on the manoeuvrability of hummingbird hawkmoths (Macroglossum stellatarum) tracking a motorised flower. This assay allowed us to sample a range of movements at different temporal frequencies, and thus assess whether wing damage affected faster or slower flight manoeuvres. We show that hummingbird hawkmoths compensate for the loss in lift force mainly by increasing wing beat amplitude, yet with a significant contribution of wing beat frequency. We did not observe any effects of wing damage on flight manoeuvrability at either high or low temporal frequencies.

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An automatic device for the study of tethered flight in insects

Bulletin of Entomological Research ◽

10.1017/s0007485300047386 ◽

1972 ◽

Vol 61 (3) ◽

pp. 533-537 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

N. A. Cullis ◽

J. W. Hargrove

Keyword(s):

Beat Frequency ◽

Automatic Measurement ◽

Automatic Device ◽

Wing Beat ◽

Flight Duration ◽

Flight Mill ◽

Wing Beat Frequency ◽

Tethered Flight

A flight mill is described which permits the automatic measurement of flight duration, speed, periodicity and wing-beat frequency.

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Changes in the wing-beat frequency of bees and wasps depending on environmental conditions: a study with optical sensors

Apidologie ◽

10.1007/s13592-021-00860-y ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Antonio R. S. Parmezan ◽

Vinicius M. A. Souza ◽

Indrė Žliobaitė ◽

Gustavo E. A. P. A. Batista

Keyword(s):

Optical Sensors ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Beat Frequency ◽

Wing Beat ◽

Wing Beat Frequency

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Evolution of the wave: aerodynamic and aposematic functions of butterfly wing motion

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2006.0261 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 274 (1612) ◽

pp. 913-917 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Robert B Srygley

Keyword(s):

Beat Frequency ◽

Warning Signal ◽

Colour Pattern ◽

Butterfly Species ◽

Wing Beat ◽

Butterfly Wing ◽

Motion Cues ◽

Wing Beat Frequency ◽

Wing Motion ◽

Heliconius Cydno

Many unpalatable butterfly species use coloration to signal their distastefulness to birds, but motion cues may also be crucial to ward off predatory attacks. In previous research, captive passion-vine butterflies Heliconius mimetic in colour pattern were also mimetic in motion. Here, I investigate whether wing motion changes with the flight demands of different behaviours. If birds select for wing motion as a warning signal, aposematic butterflies should maintain wing motion independently of behavioural context. Members of one mimicry group ( Heliconius cydno and Heliconius sapho ) beat their wings more slowly and their wing strokes were more asymmetric than their sister-species ( Heliconius melpomene and Heliconius erato , respectively), which were members of another mimicry group having a quick and steady wing motion. Within mimicry groups, wing beat frequency declined as its role in generating lift also declined in different behavioural contexts. In contrast, asymmetry of the stroke was not associated with wing beat frequency or behavioural context—strong indication that birds process and store the Fourier motion energy of butterfly wings. Although direct evidence that birds respond to subtle differences in butterfly wing motion is lacking, birds appear to generalize a motion pattern as much as they encounter members of a mimicry group in different behavioural contexts.

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GENETIC VARIABILITY OF FLIGHT METABOLISM IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER. I. CHARACTERIZATION OF POWER OUTPUT DURING TETHERED FLIGHT

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/98.3.549 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 98 (3) ◽

pp. 549-564

Author(s):

James W Curtsinger ◽

Cathy C Laurie-Ahlberg

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Power Output ◽

Beat Frequency ◽

Wing Beat ◽

Tethered Flight ◽

Flight Metabolism ◽

Flight Parameters ◽

Wing Stroke ◽

Stroke Amplitude

ABSTRACT The mechanical power imparted to the wings during tethered flight of Drosophila melanogaster is estimated from wing-beat frequency, wing-stroke amplitude and various aspects of wing morphology by applying the steady-state aerodynamics model of insect flight developed by Weis-Fogh (1972, 1973). Wing-beat frequency, the major determinant of power output, is highly correlated with the rate of oxygen consumption. Estimates of power generated during flight should closely reflect rates of ATP production in the flight muscles, since flies do not acquire an oxygen debt or accumulate ATP during flight. In an experiment using 21 chromosome 2 substitution lines, lines were a significant source of variation for all flight parameters measured. Broadsense heritabilities ranged from 0.16 for wing-stroke amplitude to 0.44 for inertial power. The variation among lines is not explained by variation in total body size (i.e., live weight). Line differences in flight parameters are robust with respect to age, ambient temperature and duration of flight. These results indicate that characterization of the power output during tethered flight will provide a sensitive experimental system for detecting the physiological effects of variation in the structure or quantity of the enzymes involved in flight metabolism.

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