It's rather spooky!
Whether you have an abiding interest in insect biology, or simply enjoy watching events that happen very, very quickly played back very, very slowly (and who doesn’t?), this short video from the Evolutionary Biology and Behavior Research Lab at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and North Carolina State University is a dazzlingly wild ride. Guided by the biologist Adrian Smith, who heads the lab, the film captures a series of 11 different winged insects – including a praying mantis, beetles and weevils – as they propel into flight at a riveting 3,200 frames per second, and are slowed down roughly 200 times for your viewing pleasure. For more of Smith’s nifty camerawork, watch Moths in Slow Motion.
I can't see the videos on my phone, so I put the links out now after someone else here said the same thing happens to them.
Entomology is one of the great fields of science.
ReplyDeleteAt the 7:30 minute mark, especially on the left side of the screen, you can see the halteres going up and down.
ReplyDeleteHalteres oscillate rapidly along with the wings and operate like vibrating structure gyroscopes.
Halteres
Was it Designed? The Haltere of the Fly
Further to my comment, and based on the same idea as halteres, using vibrating gyros.
ReplyDeleteIn recent years vibration gyro sensors have found their way into camera-shake detection systems for compact video and still cameras, motion sensing for video games, and vehicle electronic stability control (anti-skid) systems, among other things.
Gyro sensors - How they work and what's ahead
Dragonflies have these as well.
ReplyDeleteCorrection: Dragonflies have four wings and no halteres.
ReplyDelete