Bug's Life

Credit: Yao Li et al.

But even the largest beetle species, including the flour beetle Mecynorhina torquata in central Africa, keeps its thick, bulky legs unfurled as it glides through the air.

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore suspected this sprawled posture, in addition to wing movements, might help the beetles turn in flight.

To test this hypothesis, the researchers tethered M. torquata to a force-detecting joystick and projected several five-second videos of stripes moving left or right on a nearby screen, fooling the beetles into thinking they were turning.

To test this hypothesis, the researchers tethered M. torquata to a force-detecting joystick and projected several five-second videos of stripes moving left or right on a nearby screen, fooling the beetles into thinking they were turning.

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore suspected this sprawled posture, in addition to wing movements, might help the beetles turn in flight.

Unlike other winged insects, beetles soar with their legs outstretched, a posture that helps them maneuver and turn, a new study finds.

The researchers then electrically stimulated the beetles’ leg muscles to produce these swinging motions during flight.

This caused the insects to make small turning maneuvers in less than one fifth of a second—faster than if they had used their wings alone.

Play Video
As shown in the video, the insects reacted by swinging their legs in the opposite direction of the “turn,” using the principle of momentum conservation to produce a rotational force, or torque strong enough to change their heading, the researchers reported last month in The Journal of Experimental Biology.

Play Video
As shown in the video, the insects reacted by swinging their legs in the opposite direction of the “turn,” using the principle of momentum conservation to produce a rotational force, or torque strong enough to change their heading, the researchers reported last month in The Journal of Experimental Biology.

Unlike other winged insects, beetles soar with their legs outstretched, a posture that helps them maneuver and turn, a new study finds.

The researchers then electrically stimulated the beetles’ leg muscles to produce these swinging motions during flight.

Play Video
As shown in the video, the insects reacted by swinging their legs in the opposite direction of the “turn,” using the principle of momentum conservation to produce a rotational force, or torque strong enough to change their heading, the researchers reported last month in The Journal of Experimental Biology.

Unlike other winged insects, beetles soar with their legs outstretched, a posture that helps them maneuver and turn, a new study finds.

To test this hypothesis, the researchers tethered M. torquata to a force-detecting joystick and projected several five-second videos of stripes moving left or right on a nearby screen, fooling the beetles into thinking they were turning.

But even the largest beetle species, including the flour beetle Mecynorhina torquata in central Africa, keeps its thick, bulky legs unfurled as it glides through the air.

Play Video
As shown in the video, the insects reacted by swinging their legs in the opposite direction of the “turn,” using the principle of momentum conservation to produce a rotational force, or torque strong enough to change their heading, the researchers reported last month in The Journal of Experimental Biology.

But even the largest beetle species, including the flour beetle Mecynorhina torquata in central Africa, keeps its thick, bulky legs unfurled as it glides through the air.

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore suspected this sprawled posture, in addition to wing movements, might help the beetles turn in flight.

To test this hypothesis, the researchers tethered M. torquata to a force-detecting joystick and projected several five-second videos of stripes moving left or right on a nearby screen, fooling the beetles into thinking they were turning.

Play Video
As shown in the video, the insects reacted by swinging their legs in the opposite direction of the “turn,” using the principle of momentum conservation to produce a rotational force, or torque strong enough to change their heading, the researchers reported last month in The Journal of Experimental Biology.

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore suspected this sprawled posture, in addition to wing movements, might help the beetles turn in flight.

Play Video
As shown in the video, the insects reacted by swinging their legs in the opposite direction of the “turn,” using the principle of momentum conservation to produce a rotational force, or torque strong enough to change their heading, the researchers reported last month in The Journal of Experimental Biology.

Credit: Yao Li et al.