Scientists have long been concerned about how the butterfly moves through the air as it is.
It is long believed that butterflies flutter their large wings to advance, but scientists in Sweden have now proven that the movement is far more complex than it once was. previously understood.
Instead of just hitting them, they move their colorful wings to create a ‘pocket’ that catches more air and provides more movement.
The increase in speed may help in the construction of the large predator lepidopterans.
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Scientists in Sweden analyzed a slow motion video of silver fritillary flying and concluded that the butterfly does not just flutter its wings. It becomes a ‘pocket’ when they come together, aiding movement
Butterflies are a delicious food for a number of animals, including frogs, spiders, lizards and birds.
‘If you are a butterfly that can fly away faster than anyone else, that gives you a clear advantage,’ Per Henningsson, a biologist at Lund University, told the BBC.
‘It’s a strong selective weight then, because it’s a matter of life and death,’ he said.
In a study published in the journal Interface, Henningsson and his fellow biologist Cristoffer Johansson showed that a butterfly ‘clap’ generates a jet of air movement.
Researchers believe the added stress of butterfly takeoff could help avoid predators such as frogs and birds
They also found that it is achieving this trend ‘in a far more advanced way than we have ever realized,’ Henningsson told AFP.
At the time the wings collided, they were just two flat surfaces colliding. ‘
Instead, they make a ‘pocket’ shape that caught more air.
Henningsson said it was unclear whether butterflies use the pocket method while flying for free, ‘but at the initial stage, they certainly do a lot. ‘
After watching a slow motion video of the common silver-washed fly, Henningsson and Johansson created two pairs of simple mechanical wings.
One set was hard, the other flexible like real butterfly wings.
Flexible mechanical wings such as butterflies were 28 percent more efficient and 22 percent better at generating force than rigwings
The researchers found that the flexible wings were 28 percent more energy efficient – a ‘remarkable improvement’ – and 22 percent better at generation force.
‘Although considered aerodynamically inefficient,‘ butterfly wings could be ideal for creating a pocket shape, ’said Henningsson.
Their findings could be helpful in creating drones that use wing glue, he said.
Last year, Cosmos reported that engineers at the University of South Australia have unveiled a bird – sized ‘ornithopter’, a flying machine that flaps its wings to propel forward.
‘People who are working on these designs … should look into this cup-shaped behavior, since it’s there [is] a lot of efficiency and effectiveness can be gained from it, ‘Henningsson told the BBC.
The report could also help underline the importance of research on these beautiful lice, whose numbers are declining sharply.
A new report from European Butterfly Conservation has found that the number of butterflies in the UK has fallen by half since 1976, with nearly one in ten British butterfly species extinct as a result of extinction. campus.
In California, the number of western monarch butterflies has dropped sharply to less than 2,000 butterflies from the tens of thousands increased in recent years and the millions reported in the 1980s.
Sarina Jepsen of the Xerces Association, which conducts annual accounts of California monarchs, told the AP ‘this year’s attendance was heartbreaking. ‘