Comparative morphology of the thorax musculature of adult Anisoptera (Insecta: Odonata): Functional aspects of the flight apparatus

Bäumler, Fabian; Gorb, Stanislav N.; Büsse, Sebastian

doi:10.1016/j.asd.2018.04.003

Cited by 20 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…We chose our species to compare the presence of resilin-dominated tendons within all odonatan groups to allow for a more general overview. However, only one difference is mentionable regarding the pterothoracic musculature: the additional muscle IIIdlm1 in Zygoptera [11,45] and Epiophlebia [48] that is not present in Anisoptera [2,50], except for A. cyanea [2]. Furthermore, muscle IIdlm1 only has a cap tendon in Anisoptera, but is without one in Epiophlebia and Zygoptera; muscle IIIdlm1 has no cap tendon in A. cyanea either [2].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Flying is one of the big biomechanical challenges that a winged insect has to deal with, owing to the aerodynamic environment it has to face [1]. The direct flight mechanism present in Odonata (dragon-and damselflies) provides the main power for the flight [2]-in contrast to an indirect flight mechanism in most other insects [3]. Generally, insect flight results in the evolution of highly complex and derived flight apparatuses within insects [2][3][4][5], to increase flight abilities and to cope with the aerodynamic environment the particular taxon has to face [1].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The direct flight mechanism present in Odonata (dragon-and damselflies) provides the main power for the flight [2]-in contrast to an indirect flight mechanism in most other insects [3]. Generally, insect flight results in the evolution of highly complex and derived flight apparatuses within insects [2][3][4][5], to increase flight abilities and to cope with the aerodynamic environment the particular taxon has to face [1]. Within the flight apparatus of Odonata, cap tendons connect the flight muscles to the wings directly via the wing base sclerites [2,[6][7][8][9][10][11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In terms of their function for the flight, they serve as depressor, elevator and/or steering muscle [8,9], often serving multiple functions [2]. Generally, the tonic muscles (six muscles) support phasic muscles (12 muscles), which play an important role in the movement along the wing's longitudinal axis [2,6,8,9]. This enables Odonata to operate each wing independently, resulting in the ability to hover, glide and/or fly backwards [5,8,[12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Resilin in the flight apparatus of Odonata (Insecta)—cap tendons and their biomechanical importance for flight

Bäumler

Büsse

2019

Biol. Lett.

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In Odonata, a direct flight mechanism with specialized tendons evolved. One particular adaptation, the implementation of the rubber-like protein resilin in these cap tendons, might be of major importance. Although resilin was first described in one tendon of Odonata, to our knowledge no comprehensive study about the presence of resilin in the thorax exists yet. We investigated various species of Odonata, using mCT, dissection and fluorescence microscopy. Here we show a complete mapping of the odonatan pterothorax, regarding the presence of tendons and their properties. Thus, 20-21 cap tendons in the pterothorax of Odonata show the presence of resilin. While performing outstanding and often-aggressive flight manoeuvres, resilin can provide shock absorption against mechanical damage from strong impacts. It may further improve the wear and fatigue resistance owing to resilin's damping behaviour. Additionally, resilin in tendons can absorb and return kinetic energy to restore muscles to their original shape after contracting and help in maintaining self-oscillation of the flight muscles. Here, the material distribution within the direct flight system of Odonata and the biomechanical importance and possible function of resilin are discussed. These results are an important step towards the understanding of the complex form -material -function interplay of the insect cuticle.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Resilin in the flight apparatus of Odonata (Insecta)—cap tendons and their biomechanical importance for flight

Bäumler

Büsse

2019

Biol. Lett.

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“…Insects are the only flying invertebrates on Earth, and they evolved the ability of flight with small body sizes to maximize the frequency of wings beating ( Conley and Lindstedt, 2002 ). Insect flight muscles are located in the thorax and function in a direct or indirect manner ( Bullard and Pastore, 2011 ; Baumler et al, 2018 ) ( Figure 2 ) with synchronous or asynchronous contractions ( Ellington, 1985 ).…”

Section: Anatomic and Physiologic Features Of Insect Bird And Bat Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of Flight Muscle Contractility and Energetic Efficiency

Cao

Jin

2020

Front. Physiol.

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The powered flight of animals requires efficient and sustainable contractions of the wing muscles of various flying species. Despite their high degree of phylogenetic divergence, flight muscles in insects and vertebrates are striated muscles with similarly specialized sarcomeric structure and basic mechanisms of contraction and relaxation. Comparative studies examining flight muscles together with other striated muscles can provide valuable insights into the fundamental mechanisms of muscle contraction and energetic efficiency. Here, we conducted a literature review and data mining to investigate the independent emergence and evolution of flight muscles in insects, birds, and bats, and the likely molecular basis of their contractile features and energetic efficiency. Bird and bat flight muscles have different metabolic rates that reflect differences in energetic efficiencies while having similar contractile machinery that is under the selection of similar natural environments. The significantly lower efficiency of insect flight muscles along with minimized energy expenditure in Ca 2+ handling is discussed as a potential mechanism to increase the efficiency of mammalian striated muscles. A better understanding of the molecular evolution of myofilament proteins in the context of physiological functions of invertebrate and vertebrate flight muscles can help explore novel approaches to enhance the performance and efficiency of skeletal and cardiac muscles for the improvement of human health.

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A straightforward protocol to sample morphological traits of dragonflies and damselflies in the field

Novella Fernandez

2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Scarcity of morphological data limits the potential of functional ecology approaches, which rely on traits to elucidate ecological processes. Dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata) are a frequently used ecological model for which, however, only limited morphological data is available. Here, it is presented a field sampling protocol to collect ecologically relevant yet largely unavailable morphological traits of Odonata. The protocol enables the straightforward collection of traits from living individuals directly in the field. Those traits include body mass, wing area and wing loading as well as thorax width, hindwing length and body length. Furthermore, the protocol allows for posterior wing morphometric analyses. The protocol proved to be robust and universally applicable based on testing on roughly half (76) of all European odonate species. The use of this protocol can increase our understanding of odonatan morphology at interspecific and intraspecific levels and assist in developing mechanistic understanding of their ecology.

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Comparative morphology of the thorax musculature of adult Anisoptera (Insecta: Odonata): Functional aspects of the flight apparatus

Cited by 20 publications

References 18 publications

Resilin in the flight apparatus of Odonata (Insecta)—cap tendons and their biomechanical importance for flight

Resilin in the flight apparatus of Odonata (Insecta)—cap tendons and their biomechanical importance for flight

Evolution of Flight Muscle Contractility and Energetic Efficiency

A straightforward protocol to sample morphological traits of dragonflies and damselflies in the field

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