Aerodynamic evaluation of wing shape and wing orientation in four butterfly species using numerical simulations and a low-speed wind tunnel, and its implications for the design of flying micro-robots

Ancel, Alejandro Ortega; Eastwood, Rodney; Vogt, Daniel M.; Ithier, Carter; Smith, Michael D.; Wood, Robert J.; Kovač, Mirko

doi:10.1098/rsfs.2016.0087

Cited by 38 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Wing aspect ratio in butterflies and other flying animals determines flight mode and speed (Farney and Fleharty 1969;Buler et al 2017), and is therefore predicted to vary with life-history requirements across sexes and species. Despite being a simple descriptor of wing shape, aspect ratio has been demonstrated to correlate functionally with gliding efficiency in butterflies by increasing lift-to-drag ratios (Ortega Ancel et al 2017;Le Roy et al 2019). Long wings are generally associated with faster gliding flying, whereas round wings with low aspect ratio values favor slow but more maneuverable flight motions (Betts and Wootton 1988;Chai and Srygley 1990;Chazot et al 2016;Le Roy et al 2019).…”

Section: Wing Aspect Ratio Variationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altitude and life-history shape the evolution ofHeliconiuswings

Montejo‐Kovacevich

Smith

Meier

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Phenotypic divergence between closely related species has long interested biologists. Taxa that inhabit a range of environments and have diverse natural histories can help understand how selection drives phenotypic divergence. In butterflies, wing color patterns have been extensively studied but diversity in wing shape and size is less well understood. Here, we assess the relative importance of phylogenetic relatedness, natural history, and habitat on shaping wing morphology in a large dataset of over 3500 individuals, representing 13 Heliconius species from across the Neotropics. We find that both larval and adult behavioral ecology correlate with patterns of wing sexual dimorphism and adult size. Species with solitary larvae have larger adult males, in contrast to gregarious Heliconius species, and indeed most Lepidoptera, where females are larger. Species in the pupal-mating clade are smaller than those in the adult-mating clade. Interestingly, we find that high-altitude species tend to have rounder wings and, in one of the two major Heliconius clades, are also bigger than their lowland relatives. Furthermore, within two widespread species, we find that high-altitude populations also have rounder wings. Thus, we reveal novel adaptive wing morphological divergence among Heliconius species beyond that imposed by natural selection on aposematic wing coloration. K E Y W O R D S : Altitude, Heliconius, Lepidoptera, phenotypic divergence, sexual dimorphism, wing morphology.

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Section: Wing Aspect Ratio Variationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altitude and life-history shape the evolution ofHeliconiuswings

Montejo‐Kovacevich

Smith

Meier

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…In butterflies, the capacity to fly enabled by wing morphology is crucial throughout adult life during many key behaviours involved in survival, such as resource foraging (Hall and Willmott, 2000) or escaping from predators (Barber et al, 2015;Chai and Srygley, 1990), and in reproduction, such as male-male contest (Berwaerts et al, 2006;Wickman, 1992) or courtship (Scott, 1974). Wing shape directly affects various aspects of flight performance, ranging from the energy budget (Ancel et al, 2017) to the aerodynamic forces produced during wingbeats (Ellington, 1984;Muijres et al, 2017). Investigating the consequences of wing shape variation on these different components of flight performance may shed light on the forces driving wing shape evolution within and across species (Arnold, 1983;Norberg and Rayner, 1987;Le Roy et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of natural wing damage on flight performance in Morpho butterflies: what can it tell us about wing shape evolution?

Roy

Cornette

Llaurens

et al. 2019

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Flying insects frequently experience wing damage during their life. Such irreversible alterations of wing shape affect flight performance and ultimately fitness. Insects have been shown to compensate for wing damage through various behavioural adjustments, but the importance of damage location over the wings has scarcely been studied. Using natural variation in wing damage, we tested how the loss of different wing parts affects flight performance. We quantified flight performance in two species of large butterflies, Morpho helenor and Morpho achilles, caught in the wild and displaying large variation in the extent and location of wing damage. We artificially generated more severe wing damage in our sample to contrast natural versus higher magnitude wing loss. Wing shape alteration across our sample was quantified using geometric morphometrics to test the effect of different damage distributions on flight performance. Our results show that impaired flight performance clearly depends on damage location over the wings, pointing to a relative importance of different wing parts for flight. A deteriorated forewing leading edge most critically affected flight performance, specifically decreasing flight speed and the proportion of gliding flight. In contrast, the most frequent natural damage, deteriorated wing margin, had no detectable effect on flight behaviour. Damage located on the hindwingsalthough having a limited effect on flightwas associated with reduced flight height, suggesting that the forewings and hindwings play different roles in butterfly flight. By contrasting harmless and deleterious consequences of various types of wing damage, our study highlights different selective regimes acting on morphological variations of butterfly wings.

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“…Despite being a simple descriptor of wing shape, aspect ratio has been demonstrated to correlate functionally with gliding efficiency in butterflies by increasing lift‐to‐drag ratios (Ortega Ancel et al. ; Le Roy et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altitude and life‐history shape the evolution ofHeliconiuswings

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Phenotypic divergence between closely related species has long interested biologists. Taxa that inhabit a range of environments and have diverse natural histories can help understand how selection drives phenotypic divergence. In butterflies, wing color patterns have been extensively studied but diversity in wing shape and size is less well understood. Here, we assess the relative importance of phylogenetic relatedness, natural history, and habitat on shaping wing morphology in a large dataset of over 3500 individuals, representing 13 Heliconius species from across the Neotropics. We find that both larval and adult behavioral ecology correlate with patterns of wing sexual dimorphism and adult size. Species with solitary larvae have larger adult males, in contrast to gregarious Heliconius species, and indeed most Lepidoptera, where females are larger. Species in the pupal‐mating clade are smaller than those in the adult‐mating clade. Interestingly, we find that high‐altitude species tend to have rounder wings and, in one of the two major Heliconius clades, are also bigger than their lowland relatives. Furthermore, within two widespread species, we find that high‐altitude populations also have rounder wings. Thus, we reveal novel adaptive wing morphological divergence among Heliconius species beyond that imposed by natural selection on aposematic wing coloration.

show abstract

Aerodynamic evaluation of wing shape and wing orientation in four butterfly species using numerical simulations and a low-speed wind tunnel, and its implications for the design of flying micro-robots

Cited by 38 publications

References 39 publications

Altitude and life-history shape the evolution ofHeliconiuswings

Altitude and life-history shape the evolution ofHeliconiuswings

Effects of natural wing damage on flight performance in Morpho butterflies: what can it tell us about wing shape evolution?

Altitude and life‐history shape the evolution ofHeliconiuswings

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