The Supply of Oxygen to the Active Flight Muscles of some Large Beetles

1966 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. L. MILLER
Keyword(s):  
Beat Frequency ◽  
Wing Beat ◽  
Volume Changes ◽  
Tracheal System ◽  
Air Sacs ◽  
Tethered Flight ◽  
Flight Muscles ◽  
Wing Stroke ◽  
Stroke Amplitude ◽  
Comparable Size

1. Measurements of the wing-beat frequency, wing-stroke amplitude and stroke plane and of abdominal ventilation have been made during the tethered flight of twenty-six species of beetles belonging to five families, mainly in Uganda. 2. Abdominal ventilation is weak or absent in all species of Cerambycidae, Elateridae and Anthribidae examined in flight. The tracheal system in these families is characterized by the complete absence of air sacs, and in larger species by the presence of four giant trunks running through the metathorax between spiracles 2 and 3 and forming the primary supply to the flight muscles. 3. Abdominal ventilation is strong during the flight of all species over 0.6 g. in weight of the Scarabaeidae and Buprestidae which were examined. Their tracheal systems contain an abundance of air sacs while giant trunks are absent. 4. Measurements of the thoracic volume changes which accompany each wing beat show that the amount of air which can be pumped in this way increases in larger Cerambycidae per second per gram as compared with small species. Large Cerambycidae pump more per gram than Scarabaeidae of comparable size. 5. During the flight of the cerambycid Petrognatha the thoracic pump exchanges 540 µl. air/sec./g. Its action is mainly on the compressible secondary tracheae. In a wind speed of 5 m./sec. 1050µl. air/sec./g. are driven through the four giant trunks, entering through spiracle 2 and leaving from spiracle 3. The trunks are stout-walled and probably unaffected by the thoracic pump.

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

Genetics ◽  
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.

scholarly journals Synchrotron imaging of the grasshopper tracheal system: morphological and physiological components of tracheal hypermetry

2009 ◽  
Vol 297 (5) ◽  
pp. R1343-R1350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kendra J. Greenlee ◽  
Joanna R. Henry ◽  
Scott D. Kirkton ◽  
Mark W. Westneat ◽  
Kamel Fezzaa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Stage ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Tissue Growth ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Body Volume ◽  
Volume Changes ◽  
Tracheal System ◽  
Body Regions ◽  
Air Sacs ◽  
Synchrotron Imaging

As grasshoppers increase in size during ontogeny, they have mass specifically greater whole body tracheal and tidal volumes and ventilation than predicted by an isometric relationship with body mass and body volume. However, the morphological and physiological bases to this respiratory hypermetry are unknown. In this study, we use synchrotron imaging to demonstrate that tracheal hypermetry in developing grasshoppers ( Schistocerca americana) is due to increases in air sacs and tracheae and occurs in all three body segments, providing evidence against the hypothesis that hypermetry is due to gaining flight ability. We also assessed the scaling of air sac structure and function by assessing volume changes of focal abdominal air sacs. Ventilatory frequencies increased in larger animals during hypoxia (5% O2) but did not scale in normoxia. For grasshoppers in normoxia, inflated and deflated air sac volumes and ventilation scaled hypermetrically. During hypoxia (5% O2), many grasshoppers compressed air sacs nearly completely regardless of body size, and air sac volumes scaled isometrically. Together, these results demonstrate that whole body tracheal hypermetry and enhanced ventilation in larger/older grasshoppers are primarily due to proportionally larger air sacs and higher ventilation frequencies in larger animals during hypoxia. Prior studies showed reduced whole body tracheal volumes and tidal volume in late-stage grasshoppers, suggesting that tissue growth compresses air sacs. In contrast, we found that inflated volumes, percent volume changes, and ventilation were identical in abdominal air sacs of late-stage fifth instar and early-stage animals, suggesting that decreasing volume of the tracheal system later in the instar occurs in other body regions that have harder exoskeleton.

scholarly journals Kinematics of wings from Caudipteryx to modern birds

2021 ◽  
pp. 095440622110487
Author(s):  
Yaser Saffar Talori ◽  
Jing-Shan Zhao ◽  
Jingmai K O'Connor
Keyword(s):  
Surface Area ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Beat Frequency ◽  
Wing Beat ◽  
Wing Morphology ◽  
Wing Area ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Flight Muscles ◽  
Air Speed ◽  
Fossil Data

This study seeks to better quantify the parameters that drove the evolution of flight from non-volant winged dinosaurs to modern birds. In order to explore this issue, we used fossil data to model the feathered forelimbs of Caudipteryx, the most basal non-volant maniraptoran dinosaur with elongated pennaceous feathers that could be described as forming proto-wings. In order to quantify the limiting flight factors, we created three hypothetical wing profiles for Caudipteryx with incrementally larger wingspans. We compared them with what revealed through fossils in wing morphology. These four models were analyzed under varying air speed, wing beat amplitude, and wing beat frequency to determine lift, thrust potential, and metabolic requirements. We tested these models using theoretical equations in order to mathematically describe the evolutionary changes observed during the evolution of modern birds from a winged terrestrial theropod like Caudipteryx. Caudipteryx could not fly, but this research indicates that with a large enough wing span, Caudipteryx-like animal could have flown. The results of these analyses mathematically confirm that during the evolution of energetically efficient powered flight in derived maniraptorans, body weight had to decrease and wing area/wing profile needed to increase together with the flapping angle and surface area for the attachment of the flight muscles. This study quantifies the morphological changes that we observe in the pennaraptoran fossil record in the overall decrease in body size in paravians, the increased wing surface area in Archaeopteryx relative to Caudipteryx, and changes observed in the morphology of the thoracic girdle, namely, the orientation of the glenoid and the enlargement of the sternum.

Functional aspects of flight in belostomatid bugs (Heteroptera)

1966 ◽  
Vol 164 (994) ◽  
pp. 21-39 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Neurons ◽  
Spike Activity ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Beat Frequency ◽  
Motor Units ◽  
Nerve Trunk ◽  
The Other ◽  
Wing Beat ◽  
Wing Beat Frequency ◽  
Flight Muscles

1. There are four pairs of fibrillar muscles in the mesothorax of the Belostomatidae. The dorsal longitudinal muscles provide power for the downstroke and automatic pronation of the wings. The dorso-ventral muscles provide upstroke power and automatic supination. The oblique dorsal muscles act mainly as wing supinators; they are also important in the wing unlocking process. The fourth pair of fibrillar flight muscles are basalars which act indirectly via an insertion on the pre-episterna; their action is that of an accessory wing depressor and pronator. The only direct flight muscles in the mesothorax are the tonic wing-folding muscles which insert on the third axillary sclerites. There are no fibrillar flight muscles in the metathorax. 2. The pterothorax contains a fused meso- and metathoracic ganglion. The most anterior nerve trunk from this ganglion provides the motor supply to the dorsal longitudinal and oblique dorsal muscles. There are no recurrent nerves between pro- and pterothoracic ganglia, yet some of the motor neurons of the dorsal longitudinal and oblique dorsal muscles are located anterior to the pterothoracic ganglion. This is not true of the motor neurons of any of the other pterothoracic muscles. There are at least three motor units in each oblique dorsal muscle and five or more in each dorsal longitudinal muscle. The anterior nerve trunk of the pterothoracic ganglion also supplies a sensory nerve to the wings and a small nerve which sup­plies the mesothoracic scolopophorous organ which probably monitors the flight rhythm. The second nerve trunk of the pterothoracic ganglion supplies all of the other mesothoracic muscles and sends one nerve to the mesothoracic legs. 3. Wing-beat frequency for a specimen of L. maximus 105 mm long and weighing 23·4 g was 21-25/s at 23-24°C. For Hydrocyrius 57 mm long and weighing 2·9 g wing beat was 30/s. For L. uhleri typical values are 42 mm long, 1·7 g weight and wing-beat frequency of 38/s. 4. The fibrillar muscles all display strong spike activity coincident with wing opening. The wings may be held open indefinitely without flight and fibrillar muscle activity then subsides to a lower level within a few seconds. Once open, the wings may be held open in the absence of any muscle activity. When flight is initiated directly from closed wings a phasic burst of spikes is recorded initially from the fibrillar muscles but this subsides quickly to a lower level characteristic of steady flight. When flight is initiated from open wings and these muscles are already active electrically there is no change in pattern of spike activity signalling start of flight. In steady flight the pattern of spike activity is irregular and bears no temporal rela­tionship to the regular wing beat. The activity of motor units from each muscle of a pair or from different fibrillar muscles also show random temporal relationships.

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

1982 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Ward ◽  
P. S. Baker
Keyword(s):  
Beat Frequency ◽  
Triatoma Infestans ◽  
Laboratory Population ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Wing Beat ◽  
Flight Pattern ◽  
Body Angle ◽  
The Third ◽  
Wing Beat Frequency ◽  
Tethered Flight

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.

Simultaneous Recordings of Torque, Thrust and Muscle Spikes from the Fly Musca domestica during Optomotor Responses

1978 ◽  
Vol 33 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 455-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manfred Spüler ◽  
Gerhard Heide
Keyword(s):  
Musca Domestica ◽  
Spike Activity ◽  
Beat Frequency ◽  
Wing Beat ◽  
Wing Beat Frequency ◽  
Direct Flight ◽  
Flight Muscles

Abstract A new torque/thrust meter is described. Torque, thrust, wing-beat frequency and spike activity in direct flight muscles are recorded simultaneously during optomotor responses of the fly Musca domestica.

scholarly journals Collision-avoidance and landing responses are mediated by separate pathways in the fruit fly,Drosophila melanogaster

2002 ◽  
Vol 205 (18) ◽  
pp. 2785-2798 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lance F. Tammero ◽  
Michael H. Dickinson
Keyword(s):  
Collision Avoidance ◽  
Visual Feedback ◽  
Flight Control ◽  
Beat Frequency ◽  
Expansion Rate ◽  
Leg Extension ◽  
Landing Response ◽  
Avoidance Reactions ◽  
Wing Stroke ◽  
Stroke Amplitude

SUMMARYFlies rely heavily on visual feedback for several aspects of flight control. As a fly approaches an object, the image projected across its retina expands, providing the fly with visual feedback that can be used either to trigger a collision-avoidance maneuver or a landing response. To determine how a fly makes the decision to land on or avoid a looming object, we measured the behaviors generated in response to an expanding image during tethered flight in a visual closed-loop flight arena. During these experiments, each fly varied its wing-stroke kinematics to actively control the azimuth position of a 15°×15° square within its visual field. Periodically, the square symmetrically expanded in both the horizontal and vertical directions. We measured changes in the fly's wing-stroke amplitude and frequency in response to the expanding square while optically tracking the position of its legs to monitor stereotyped landing responses. Although this stimulus could elicit both the landing responses and collision-avoidance reactions, separate pathways appear to mediate the two behaviors. For example, if the square is in the lateral portion of the fly's field of view at the onset of expansion, the fly increases stroke amplitude in one wing while decreasing amplitude in the other, indicative of a collision-avoidance maneuver. In contrast, frontal expansion elicits an increase in wing-beat frequency and leg extension,indicative of a landing response. To further characterize the sensitivity of these responses to expansion rate, we tested a range of expansion velocities from 100 to 10 000° s-1. Differences in the latency of both the collision-avoidance reactions and the landing responses with expansion rate supported the hypothesis that the two behaviors are mediated by separate pathways. To examine the effects of visual feedback on the magnitude and time course of the two behaviors, we presented the stimulus under open-loop conditions, such that the fly's response did not alter the position of the expanding square. From our results we suggest a model that takes into account the spatial sensitivities and temporal latencies of the collision-avoidance and landing responses, and is sufficient to schematically represent how the fly uses integration of motion information in deciding whether to turn or land when confronted with an expanding object.

Preparation for Flight by Hawk-Moths

1962 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 579-588
Author(s):  
D. A. DORSETT
Keyword(s):  
Ambient Temperature ◽  
Flight Muscle ◽  
Beat Frequency ◽  
The Other ◽  
Wing Beat ◽  
Wing Loading ◽  
Warming Period ◽  
The Family ◽  
Fine Control ◽  
Wing Stroke

1. Moths belonging to the family Sphingidae are not capable of controlled flight until the temperature of the flight muscle has been raised by a preliminary period of vibrating the wings. 2. The flight-temperature of forty-five specimens of Deilephila nerii varied between 34 and 45° C., but individuals always flew at the same temperature. 3. The temperature inside the thorax rose at a mean rate of 4.2° C./min. 4. Alteration of the ambient temperature affects the duration of the warming period but not the flight-temperature. 5. The flight-temperature shows a positive correlation with the wing loading. In Deilephila and two other genera of similar dimensions, an increase of 50 mg. in the wing loading corresponds to a rise of 5.75° C. in the flight-temperature. 6. A method of measuring the rise in wing-beat frequency during the warming period is described. The thoracic temperature increases linearly with the frequency. 7. It is concluded that the frequency of the wing beat is determined principally by the wing loading, whilst variations in the other parameters of the wing stroke provide the ‘fine control’ of flight regulation required during flight and whilst hovering.

An automatic device for the study of tethered flight in insects

1972 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 533-537 ◽  
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.

Thermoregulation in Small Flies (Syrphus Sp.): Basking and Shivering

1975 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 599-610
Author(s):  
BERND HEINRICH ◽  
CURT PANTLE
Keyword(s):  
Air Temperature ◽  
Beat Frequency ◽  
Vibration Frequencies ◽  
Wing Beat ◽  
Hovering Flight ◽  
Warm Up ◽  
Ambient Temperatures ◽  
Thoracic Temperature ◽  
Flight Muscles ◽  
Vibration Rate

1. Flies of the genus Syrphus aggregated at specific sites in the field (‘lecks’). Flies at leeks were always capable of ‘instant’ take-of, even at ambient temperatures of 10 °C or less. 2. The flies regulated their thoracic temperature by a combination of basking and shivering. During hovering flight in sunshine thoracic temperature rose 12–14 °C above the ambient temperature. 3. The flies engaged in frequent brief chases while at the lecks. 4. At an air temperature > 18 °C the flies at the leck remained in hovering flight most of the time. 5. The vibration frequencies of the thorax during shivering and flight ranged from about 100 to 200 Hz at 10–27 °C, though at a given temperature and spike frequency the vibration rate during warm-up was higher than the wing-beat frequency (assumed to be the same as thoracic vibration frequency) during flight. 6. During shivering, but not in flight, there is a tendency for the indirect flight muscles to be activated in synchrony.

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