Collaborative Research: How to Fall from Trees: Biomechanics and Ecology of Gliding Flight in Arthropods

许多树栖动物利用空中滑翔来躲避掠食者或寻找资源。无翅节肢动物从树上落下的频率很高，称为“节肢动物雨”，通常落在不熟悉和敌对的林下。 这项工作结合了系统发育，生态，行为和空气动力学的方法来评估无翼飞行的整体生物学意义。 与滑翔相关的形态和行为特征将被大量的节肢动物测量，并将被映射到进化树上，以确定这种行为的相关性。 从树冠上掉下来的蚂蚁的物种组成将与那些未能滑翔到树上，而是降落在林下的蚂蚁进行比较。 这项研究将在秘鲁和巴拿马节肢动物多样性高的雨林地点进行。 最后，针对一种常见的滑翔蚁的实验将研究空气动力学控制的机制。 这是第一项将节肢动物的滑翔行为与特定的选择压力联系起来的研究，也是第一次量化雨林中节肢动物沉降物这一更大的生态现象。 它将更广泛地评估滑翔行为与地球上最多样化的昆虫谱系的生物相关性。在更广泛的背景下，这项研究中收集的信息将与新兴的自扶正和可折叠微型飞行器技术有关。 这项研究将包括在小石城的阿肯色州大学培训一名研究生，并在秘鲁和巴拿马的研究地点培训实地助理。 我们还将与UALR（EPSCOR机构）历史上代表性不足的本科生合作。 我们还将与加州科学院合作开展外展活动，向教师研讨会介绍我们的研究结果。 我们最初的滑翔蚁发现吸引了大众媒体和公众的极大关注，我们希望与其他昆虫滑翔机的结果相当的兴趣。

Many tree-dwelling animals use aerial gliding to escape predators or to locate resources. Wingless arthropods fall from trees with high frequency as "arthropod rain", often landing in the unfamiliar and hostile understory. This work combines phylogenetic, ecological, behavioral and aerodynamic approaches to assess the overall biological significance of wingless flight. Morphological and behavioral characteristics relevant to gliding will be measured for a large number of arthropods, and will be mapped onto evolutionary trees to identify correlates of this behavior. Species composition of ants falling from the tree canopy will be compared with those that fail to glide to trees, and instead land in the understory. The research will be conducted at rainforest sites having high arthropod diversity in Peru and Panama. Finally, experiments focusing on one common species of gliding ant will examine mechanisms of aerodynamic control. This is the first study to associate gliding behavior in arthropods with specific selection pressures, and the first to quantify the larger ecological phenomenon of arthropod fallout in rainforests. It will more generally evaluate the biological relevance of gliding behavior for the earth's most diverse lineage, the insects. In a broader context, information gathered in this study will be relevant to the emerging technology of self-righting and maneuverable microair vehicles. The research will include the training of a graduate student at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock (UALR) and field assistants at study sites in Peru and Panama. We will additionally work with historically under-represented undergraduates at UALR (an EPSCOR institution). We will also conduct an outreach component in collaboration with the California Academy of Sciences to present our findings to teacher workshops. Our original gliding ant discoveries attracted considerable attention from the popular media and the public at large, and we expect comparable interest in results with other insect gliders.