What is it about?
We studied beetles of different sizes to understand why the smallest insect wings usually have feather-like wings with a fringe of long bristles that extend on the periphery. We found that the lengths and the diameters of the bristles are such as to prevent excessive bending. The gaps between the bristles are maximized to reduce mass, while ensuring that they remain close enough together to prevent the flow of air through the wing during flight.
Featured Image
Photo by Andraz Lazic on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Our results highlight the determining role of mechanical factors in evolutionary adaptations of microinsects, offering quantitative insights into why these animals are able to thrive in their ecological niches.
Perspectives
We mainly used beetle data. We hope that, in the future, similar data will become available for other miniature insects, including wasps, thrips, and others.
Dmitry Kolomenskiy
Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Scaling and mechanical optimality of bristled wings in microinsects, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, August 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2506403122.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
