The biological and aerodynamic implications of small body size for flight in insects

许多昆虫物种在进化过程中经历了严重的身体小型化，导致身体尺寸小于一毫米。这些昆虫的飞行能力是显著的，因为身体和扑翼上的高粘性摩擦明显阻碍了空中运动，并产生了较高的能量成本。小型化还导致对感觉运动系统的生理限制，这是由于感觉处理所需的受体和神经元的数量减少。感觉能力的降低可能导致飞行控制和空中服从诱导的身体姿势反射期间的反应准确性差。尽管微型昆虫是重要的农业害虫或害虫控制剂，但使它们减轻空气动力学、能量和生理限制的机制知之甚少。建议的综合研究方法的目的是调查飞行控制，空中行为，肌肉能量学和流体动力学在四个微型昆虫物种，代表四个不同的昆虫订单。该项目包括对拴系和自由飞行的动物进行实验室实验，使用高速视频，模拟飞行，呼吸测量和机器人。该项目的最终目标是了解各种飞行系统如何科普小身体的物理和生理限制，以及飞行特定的适应如何在生物力学和感觉生物学水平上与飞行期间的功能角色联系起来。

Multiple insect species have undergone severe body miniaturization in the course of evolution, resulting in body sizes of less than a millimeter. The ability to fly is remarkable in these insects because high viscous friction on the body and flapping wings distinctly hinders aerial locomotion and produces elevated energetic costs. Miniaturization also leads to physiological constraints on the sensorimotor system owing to a reduced number of receptors and neurons needed for sensory processing. A reduced sensory capacity may lead to poor response accuracy during flight control and air turbulence-induced body posture reflexes. Although miniature insects are important agricultural pests or pest control agents, the mechanisms allowing them to mitigate aerodynamic, energetic, and physiological constraints are poorly understood. The proposed integrated research approach aims to investigate flight control, aerial behavior, muscle energetics, and fluid dynamics in four miniature insect species, representing four distinct insect orders. The project includes laboratory experiments on tethered and freely flying animals, using high-speed video, simulator flight, respirometric measurements, and robotics. The ultimate goal of the project is to understand how the various flight systems cope with the physical and physiological constraints on small bodies, and how flight-specific adaptations are linked with their functional roles during flight at the level of biomechanics and sensory biology.