The divergent role of the enigmatic flight expertise of butterflies
Friends of @Project.HOPE, in this opportunity I will share with you a manuscript of biomechanical character, related to the interesting method to evade death that butterflies have, before advancing, it is imperative to highlight that butterflies have been catalogued as flying insects, in spite of the large and inefficient structures they have to execute their flight skills.
Fig. 2 Historically, it has been thought that the large wings of butterflies are inefficient structures to perform flight skills. Image of public domain, Author: Glady, 2014
Traveling through the air is a pleasurable activity, but at the same time enigmatic, and although the human being as a superior species has managed to master the basic principles of flight, creating mechanisms and sophisticated devices or aircraft, it is also true that we still need to decipher in its full dimension all the biological elements involved in the nature of flight.
In this order of ideas, it is affirmed that natural selection has already made many of the calculations to solve problems in an evolutionary way, a foundation that science has used to reason that the enormous wings of butterflies are inefficient structures to perform flight practices optimally, however, historically deterministic conceptions have argued that small changes can lead to totally divergent consequences, therefore, if we apply this principle it is intuitive that the enormous wings of butterflies have a life purpose.
The necessary requirements for the flight of butterflies, is a subject under constant investigation, in this regard it was recently demonstrated that butterflies throughout their evolutionary process, developed an effective way of cupping and clapping their wings to generate thrust and thus avoid dangerous predators, in other words, the huge wings that butterflies show, are nothing more than the result of an ingenious structural design, which gives them the ability to get to safety, since the larger the wings, the faster the takeoff speed.
Fig. 3 The butterflies exhibit an ingenious structural design, with large wings that allow them to take off quickly and to escape from predators. Image of public domain, Author: Poza, 2017
Now, and to close this manuscript, it is necessary to point out that even though, to date, it has not been demonstrated how this butterfly strategy works in natural flight conditions, the only thing that is very clear is that human beings over time tend to make mistakes constantly, in this sense, it is expected that this ability of butterflies to maneuver at takeoff and subsequent flight practice, will be a source of inspiration for the aerospace industry in the design of new aircraft with greater maneuverability in emergency situations.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES CONSULTED:
[1] Johansson L., and Henningsson P. Butterflies fly using efficient propulsive clap mechanism owing to flexible wings. 2021. Article: Online access
[2] Roy C., Debat V, and Llaurens V. Adaptive evolution of butterfly wing shape: from morphology to behaviour. Biological Reviews. 2019; 94: 4. Article: Online access
[3] Betts C., and Wootton R. Wing shape and flight behaviour in butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea): A preliminary analysis. Journal of Experimental Biology. 1988; 138. Article: Online access
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Hello friend, an interesting writing, definitely the body of living beings is magnificent and will always do everything to protect us, if we have to evolve we evolve, but I think we have the ability to adapt to many things. I didn't know about this topic, thanks for sharing it with us. Greetings!!!
That's right, each structure of living beings, hides a magnificent strategy to protect us from any dangerous situation, the key is to be able to correctly interpret each functionality, to support us and imitate these behaviors and take them to the creation of novel devices. Thank you @franyeligonzalez, for your kind visit.
Hi @lupafilotaxia,
No doubt it is a process although inefficient somewhat sophisticated which applies this species, it is not surprising that we humans apply this process as a bionic system to design equipment under this mechanism. Thanks for your contribution
Greetings my friend @madridbg
Incidentally, in this regard it will be interesting to see the development of tests, where this fast and aerodynamic take-off system of the Mariposas is imitated. Thanks for your comment, best regards. We will keep reading.
It would be interesting to see how science and engineering can be based on the way the butterfly flies to perfect some aeronautical techniques, I have always said that the answer to everything we want to know is in nature. Greetings friend @lupafilotaxia and thanks for such a valuable contribution.
Greetings friend @carlos84
Nature, gives us the answers to many questions, mankind has always complemented its knowledge from interactions with nature. Thanks for your comment, best regards.