The featherwing beetle is tiny, less than half a millimeter in length. At that scale, flying is a challenge, with air’s viscosity dominating the forces the insect must overcome. The Keep reading
Tag: insects
Butterflies Emerging
When a butterfly emerges from its chrysalis, it flaps its wings to help pump fluids through its body, essentially inflating its new adult form. You get a glimpse of that Keep reading
The Best of FYFD 2021
A year ago I observed what a strange year 2020 had been, and in many ways, I could say the same of 2021. Before the pandemic, I spent quite a Keep reading
Insects Taking Flight
As awkward as they look sometimes, insects are amazing fliers. In this video from Ant Lab, we see all kinds of insects taking flight. Some, like the mantis, execute flying Keep reading
Moths in Flight
As student engineers, we often use fixed-wing aircraft to build our intuition for flight, but nature has so many other incredible examples to offer. Here we see high-speed video of Keep reading
The Froghopper’s Incredible Suction
The tiny froghopper feeds on the sap in xylem, a feat that requires overcoming more than a megapascal of negative pressure. Plants, as you may recall, transport water and nutrients Keep reading
Unusual Insects Taking Off
What do you do when you’re an insect researcher with a high-speed camera? Why, film all sorts of unusual insects from your backyard as they take off and fly! Here Keep reading
How Animals Stay Dry in the Rain
Getting wet can be a problem for many animals. A wet insect could quickly become too heavy to fly, and a wet bird can struggle to stay warm. But these Keep reading
The Cricket’s Chirp
Growing up, my summer nights often featured a chorus of crickets and bull frogs. Even now, the sound of those chirps reminds me of home. So how do crickets make Keep reading
Holding Fast in the Flow
Many tiny creatures in the natural world face living in fast flows. The larvae of the net-winged midge, for example, forage their way through fast-flowing Alpine springs with speeds of Keep reading