This study investigates the effect of wing planform shape on the aerodynamic performance of insect wings by numerically solving the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. We define the wing planforms using a beta-function distribution and employ kin...
It is still unclear how elastic deformation of flapping insect wings caused by the aerodynamic pressure results in their significant cambering. In this study, we present that a vein–membrane interaction (VMI) can clarify this mechanical process...
The flapping wings of insects undergo large deformations caused by aerodynamic forces, resulting in cambering. Insect-mimetic micro wings for flapping-wing nano air vehicles mimic these characteristic deformations. In this study, a 2.5-dimensional in...
Insect wings are generally constructed from veins and solid membranes. However, in the case of the smallest flying insects, the wing membrane is often replaced by hair-like bristles. In contrast to large insects, it is possible for both bristled and...
A flight device for insect-inspired flapping wing nano air vehicles (FWNAVs), which consists of the micro wings, the actuator, and the transmission, can use the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) to create the characteristic motions of the flapping wi...
In many disciplines, professionals are interested in folding patterns for their packing and shape changing capabilities. Many insects have folded wings fitting to their body morphology that can unfold to fly, support their weight and withstand extern...
In this study, we fabricated a novel wearable vibration sensor for insects and measured their wing flapping. An analysis of insect wing deformation in relation to changes in the environment plays an important role in understanding the underlying mech...
Small-scale flapping-wing micro air vehicles (FWMAVs) are an emerging robotic technology with many applications in areas including infrastructure monitoring and remote sensing. However, challenges such as inefficient energetics and decreased payload...
Laminar flow aircraft may potentially save fuel and reduce the emission of pollutants and greenhouse gases. However, laminar flow aircraft face challenges caused by contaminations on the wings, such as insect impact residue. To study insect residue o...
In contrast to larger flight-capable insects such as hawk moths and fruit flies, miniature flying insects such as thrips show the obligatory use of wing–wing interaction via “clap and fling” during the end of upstroke and start of d...
The nature, occurrence, morphological basis and functions of insect wing deformation in flight are reviewed. The importance of relief in supporting the wing is stressed, and three types are recognized, namely corrugation, an M-shaped section and camb...
The finite element (FE) method is one of the most widely used numerical techniques for the simulation of the mechanical behavior of engineering and biological objects. Although very efficient, the use of the FE method relies on the development of acc...
Insects are able to fly stably in the complex environment of the various gusts that occur in nature. In addition, many insects suffer wing damage in their lives, but many species of insects are capable of flying without their hindwings. Here, we eval...
In this paper, we propose a platform for an insect-like flapping winged micro aerial vehicle with a resonant wing-driving system using extension springs (FMAVRES). The resonant wing-driving system is constructed using an extension spring instead of t...
In this study, we propose a 2.5-dimensional (2.5-D) structure approach for insect-mimetic flapping-wing air vehicles (FWAVs). The proposed approach includes design and fabrication methods. To our best knowledge, this study is the first one that devel...
This study focuses on the aerodynamics of the smallest flying insects’ bristled wings. We measured and analyzed wing morphological data from 38 specimens of Mymaridae. Bristled wing flight was numerically simulated at Reynolds numbers from 1 to...
Insects constitute a very important part of the global ecosystem and include pollinators, disease vectors, and agricultural pests, all with pivotal influence on society. Monitoring and control of such insects has high priority, and automatic systems...
Insects produce a variety of highly acrobatic maneuvers in flight owing to their ability to achieve various wing-stroke trajectories. Among them, beetles can quickly change their flight velocities and make agile turns. In this work, we report a newly...
Similar to humans, insects lose their physical and physiological capacities with age, which makes them a convenient study system for human ageing. Although insects have an efficient oxygen-transport system, we know little about how their flight capac...
In this work, micro air vehicles (MAVs) equipped with bio-inspired wings are investigated experimentally in wind tunnel. The starting point is that insects such as dragonflies, butterflies and locusts have wings with rigid tubular elements (corrugati...
Aerodynamic characteristics of revolving wing models were investigated to assess the validity of the normal force model. Aerodynamic force and torque measurements were conducted for six wing planforms (with aspect ratios of 2 and 3, and area centroid...
Insect wing vein networks facilitate blood transport with unknown haemodynamic effects on their structures. Fruit flies have the posterior cross vein (PCV) that disrupts the symmetry of the network topology and reduces the total pressure loss during...
Odor-guided navigation is fundamental to the survival and reproductive success of many flying insects. Despite its biological importance, the mechanics of how insects sense and interpret odor plumes in the presence of complex flow fields remain poorl...
Gains in our knowledge of dispersal and migration in insects have been largely limited to either wing-dimorphic species or current genetic model systems. Species belonging to these categories, however, represent only a tiny fraction of insect biodive...
The Spotted-Wing Drosophila fly, Drosophila suzukii, is an invasive pest species infesting major agricultural soft fruits. Drosophila suzukii management is currently based on insecticide applications that bear major concerns regarding their efficienc...
Most current insect research techniques are ground-based and provide scarce information about flying insects in the planetary boundary layer (PBL), which remains a poorly studied ecological niche. To address this gap, we developed a new insect-sampli...
We numerically solved the acoustic and flow field around cicada wing models with parametrically varied flexibility using the hydrodynamic/acoustic splitting method. We observed a gradual change of sound directivity with flexibility. We found that fle...
Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura), also known as spotted wing drosophila (SWD), is invasive, with a preference for infesting commercially viable soft berries, particularly cherries. SWD infestations in sweet cherries are difficult to detect and remove i...
Nature shows many examples of surfaces with extraordinary wettability, which can often be associated with particular air-trapping surface patterns. Here, robust non-wetting surfaces have been created by femtosecond laser ablation of polytetrafluoro...
This paper investigates the rotational lift production of translating and rotating wings within a small insect’s Reynolds number range. Using the Reynolds number 1200 of a bumblebee, three wing section profiles were studied: a circular cylinder...
In contrast to larger species, little is known about the flight of the smallest flying insects, such as thrips and fairyflies. These tiny animals range from 300 to 1000 microns in length and fly at Reynolds numbers ranging from about 4 to 60. Previou...
Most traditional flapping-wing micro air vehicles (FMAVs) adopt a serial control mechanism, which means that one drive corresponds to one degree of freedom. However, the serial mechanism often struggles to meet FMAV requirements in terms of stiffness...
The global spread of a parasitic mite (Varroa destructor) has resulted in Deformed wing virus (DWV), a previously rare pathogen, now dominating the viromes in honey bees and contributing to large-scale honey bee colony losses. DWV can be found in div...
Flying insects exhibit outperforming stability and control via continuous wing flapping even under severe disturbances in various conditions of wind gust and turbulence. While conventional linear proportional derivative (PD)-based controllers are wid...
Protein delivery to cells in vivo has great potential for the functional analysis of proteins in nonmodel organisms. In this study, using the butterfly wing system, we investigated a method of protein delivery to insect epithelial cells that allows f...
Drosophila suzukii (spotted wing drosophila—SWD) is an economically important pest of soft and stone fruit worldwide. Control relies on broad-spectrum insecticides, which are neither fully effective nor environmentally sustainable. The sterile insect...
The increase in the world population and consequent rise in food demand have led to the extensive use of chemical pesticides, causing environmental and health concerns. In response, biological control methods, particularly those involving microbial a...
In this paper, model parameter identification results are presented for a longitudinal mode dynamic model of an insect-like tailless flapping-wing micro air vehicle (FWMAV) using angle and angular rate data from onboard sensors only. A gray box model...
Specific Hawaiian fruit flies have an extra crossvein (ECV) in the wing vein network which connects contiguously with another crossvein and forms a unique cruciform topology. These flies are distinguished by their large wings and their allometrically...
Drosophila suzukii is an invasive fruit pest and represents a potential economic threat to viticulture. After first observations of D. suzukii in Europe in 2008, research mainly focused on the evaluation of the host range and infestation risk for fru...
The spotted-wing drosophila (SWD), Drosophila suzukii Matsumura (Diptera: Drosophilidae), native to Eastern Asia, is an invasive alien species in Europe and the Americas, where it is a severe pest of horticultural crops, including soft fruits and win...
The combined ceiling and ground effect on the aerodynamics of a hovering flapping wing is investigated using numerical simulations. In the simulations, the wing was located between the ceiling and the ground. Simulations were carried out for differen...
With ongoing colony losses driven in part by the Varroa mite and the associated exacerbation of the virus load, there is an urgent need to protect honey bees (Apis mellifera) from fatal levels of virus infection and from the non-target effects of ins...
This study explored the thermal response of Drosophila suzukii, an injurious insect pest present in many countries worldwide, at different controlled conditions. This species is responsible for several economic losses in soft fruit cultivations, deve...
Drosophila suzukii is an invasive pest that poses a significant threat to fruit crops worldwide, leading to considerable agricultural losses and economic damage. Unlike chemical control measures against D. suzukii, integrating insect-proof nets withi...
Mosquitoes’ self-generated air movements around their antennae, especially at the wing-beat frequency, are crucial for both obstacle avoidance and mating communication. However, the characteristics of these air movements are not well clarified....
Deformed wing virus (DWV) is a major contributor to honey bee colony losses, making effective monitoring essential for apiary management. Traditional DWV detection relies on hazardous RNA extraction followed by RT-qPCR, creating barriers for widespre...
Spotted wing drosophila (SWD), Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae), are invasive vinegar flies of East Asian origin that are an increasingly global threat to the small fruit industry. It is essential that new classes of eco-friendly insectici...
The spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii is an injurious polyphagous pest threatening worldwide soft fruit production. Its high adaptability to new colonized environments, short life cycle, and wide host range are supporting its rapid spread....
The effect of corrugated wings on the aerodynamic characteristics of a dragonfly-like hovering flapping wing is investigated using two-dimensional numerical simulations. Two types of pitch motion profiles, namely ‘sinusoidal’ and ‘t...
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