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To restore the insect to its original vertical position, the average upward force during the downward stroke, F av, must be equal to twice the weight of the insect. Note that since the upward force on the insect body is applied only for half the time, the average upward force on the insect is simply its weight. [14]
A 2000 report by staff at "The Straight Dope" also explained rods as such phenomena, namely tricks of light which result from how (primarily video) images of flying insects are recorded and played back, adding that investigators have shown the rod-like bodies to be a result of motion blur, if the camera is shooting with relatively long exposure ...
The majority of insects have two pairs of wings. Flies possess only one set of lift-generating wings and one set of halteres. The order name for flies, "Diptera", literally means "two wings", but there is another order of insect which has evolved flight with only two wings: strepsipterans, or stylops; [2] they are the only other organisms that possess two wings and two halteres. [6]
Like most insects, the Lepidoptera are oviparous or "egg layers". [40] Lepidopteran eggs, like those of other insects, are centrolecithal in that the eggs have a central yolk surrounded by cytoplasm. The yolk provides the liquid nourishment for the embryo caterpillar until it escapes from the shell. [60]
Some species, including the dragonhunter (Hagenius brevistylus), reduce exposure to the sun by perching with the abdomen pointed downward, rather than upward. The tropical skimmer dragonfly Diastatops intensa , whose wings are mostly black, points its wings rather than its abdomen at the sun, apparently to reduce the heat they absorb.
The halteres are club-shaped organs, used to balance the insect in flight, consisting of a proximal portion connected to a mechano-sensory organ. The homology between the wings and halteres is demonstrated by the four-winged mutant of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. The development of the halteres varies according to the systematic group ...
Positive phototaxis can be found in many flying insects such as moths, grasshoppers, and flies. Drosophila melanogaster has been studied extensively for its innate positive phototactic response to light sources, using controlled experiments to help understand the connection between airborne locomotion toward a light source. [ 65 ]
Flying frogs use greatly enlarged webbed feet for a similar purpose, and there are flying lizards which fold out their mobile ribs into a pair of flat gliding surfaces. "Flying" snakes also use mobile ribs to flatten their body into an aerodynamic shape, with a back and forth motion much the same as they use on the ground.