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Te mass of the bristled wing was about 1% of the
body mass of the beetle. Farisenkov et al. calculated that a wing of the same area, if membranous (as found in most flying insects), would have an approximately six-fold greater mass. Te bristled wing maintained the needed aerodynamic properties because the physics of creating liſt is different at sub-millimeter dimensions than it is on a larger scale. Specifically, the viscosity of air is proportionally greater than inertia at a tiny scale. Tis was demonstrated by the ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces (Reynolds number). Having described the microscopic morphology of
the beetle’s wing, Farisenkov et al. developed a kine- matic model using synchronized high-speed (almost 4,000 frames per second) videography taken from two perpendicular positions. Aſter a three-dimensional reconstruction and sophisticated analyses of the beetle and its flight, the group discovered that the wings did not move in a strict up-and-down fashion but rather a figure-of-eight loop. Te wings clapped above and below the body, just when the wings reversed direction. Te unusually large horizontal and vertical excursion
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of the wings during flapping poses a peculiar flight dynamics problem that would destabilize the flight pattern. To limit this problematic effect on the insect’s body and stabilize the beetle in flight, the modified hardened forewings (elytra) were deployed synchro- nously with the wing beats to counteract the destabi- lizing effect of liſt. Te authors determined that this was a novel flight style. Farisenkov et al. also performed additional stud-
ies that demonstrated the efficiency of the design and motion of the bristled wing of P. placentis. Tis study helps to explain how extremely small insects have pre- served good aerial performance during miniaturization over more than 300 million years. No doubt this is one of the factors responsible for their evolutionary success!
References [1] SE Farisenkov et al., Nature 602 (2022) https://doi .org/10.1038/s41586-021-04303-7.
[2] Te author gratefully acknowledges Dr. Sergey Farisenkov for reviewing this article.
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