Abstract
As a very basic flight mode, ascending flight is obviously of great importance to all kinds of manmade and natural fliers. Yet, for the most commonly seen fliers - insects, researches on this flight mode are rare. In this paper, we combined both experimental measurements and numerical simulations to investigate the kinematical characteristics, aerodynamic performance and power requirement of ascending flight in fruit flies (Drosophila virilis). The flies ascend at an advance ratio of about 0.12. The most significant characteristic of ascending flight is larger stroke amplitude compared to hovering, while the other kinematics is very similar. From an aerodynamics point of view, this increased stroke amplitude is needed to overcome the negative effects of “downwash flow”, caused by the upward motion of the fly. Same as hovering, the ascending fruit flies utilize delayed stall and fast pitching-up mechanisms to generate the majority of the lift required for balancing the weight and body drag. By using a larger stroke-amplitude to overcome the negative effects of “downwash flow”, larger energy cost (about 20%) than that of equivalent hovering is required.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Sane S P. The aerodynamics of insect flight. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2003, 206, 4191–4208.
Sun M. Insect flight dynamics: Stability and control. Reviews of Modern Physics, 2014, 86, 615–646.
Pines D J, Bohorquez F. Challenges facing future microair-vehicle development. Journal of Aircraft, 2006, 43, 290–305.
Felton S M, Becker K P, Aukes D M, Wood R J. Self-folding with shape memory composites at the millimeter scale. Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, 2015, 25, 085004.
De Croon G C H E, De Clercq K M E, Ruijsink R, Remes B, De Wagter C. Design, aerodynamics, and vision-based control of the delfly. International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles, 2009, 1, 71–97.
Ristroph L, Childress S. Stable hovering of a jellyfish-like flying machine. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 2014, 11, 20130992.
Ma K Y, Chirarattananon P, Fuller S B, Wood R J. Controlled flight of a biologically inspired, insect-scale robot. Science, 2013, 340, 603–607.
Lentink D, Jongerius S R, Bradshaw N L. The scalable design of flapping micro-air vehicles inspired by insect flight. In Floreano D, Zufferey J C, Srinivasan M V, Ellington C eds., Flying Insects & Robots, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Germany, 2009, 185–205.
Card G M. Escape behaviors in insects. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 2012, 22, 180–186.
Geurten B R H, Kern R, Braun E, Egelhaaf M. A syntax of hoverfly flight prototypes. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2010, 213, 2461–2475.
Schnell-Larsen R. Der flug der insekten. Eine neue methode zu dessen erforschung: Norsk ent. Tidsskr, 1934, 3, 306–315.
Hargrove J. The flight performance of tsetse flies. Journal of Insect Physiology, 1975, 21, 1385–1395.
Wilkin P J. Instantaneous aerodynamic forces developed by an indian moon moth, Actias selene, in near-hovering flight. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 1991, 64, 193–211.
Fischer H, Kutsch W. Timing of elevator muscle activity during climbing in free locust flight. Journal of Experimental Biology, 1999, 202, 3575–3586.
Dillon M E, Dudley R. Surpassing Mt. Everest: Extreme flight performance of alpine bumble-bees. Biology Letters, 2014, 10, 20130922.
Brackenbury J H. Kinematics of take-off and climbing flight in butterflies. Journal of Zoology, 1991, 224, 251–270.
Truong T V, Le T Q, Tran H T, Park H C, Yoon K J, Byun D. Flow visualization of rhinoceros beetle (Trypoxylus dichotomus) in free flight. Journal of Bionic Engineering, 2012, 9, 304–314.
Ashburner M. Drosophila: A Laboratory Handbook, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York, USA, 1989.
Meng X G, Sun M. Aerodynamics and vortical structures in hovering fruitflies. Physics of Fluids, 2015, 27, 031901.
Chen M W, Sun M. Wing/body kinematics measurement and force and moment analyses of the takeoff flight of fruitflies. Acta Mechanica Sinica, 2014, 30, 495–506.
Ray R P, Nakata T, Henningsson P, Bomphrey R J. Enhanced flight performance by genetic manipulation of wing shape in Drosophila. Nature Communications, 2016, 7, 10851.
Kaspi R, Taylor P W, Yuval B. Diet and size influence sexual advertisement and copulatory success of males in Mediterranean fruit fly leks. Ecological Entomology, 2000, 25, 279–284.
Carey J R, Liedo P, Müller H G, Wang J L, Vaupel J W. Dual modes of aging in mediterranean fruit fly females. Science, 1998, 281, 996–998.
Hardie R C. Functional organization of the fly retina, In Autrum H, Ottoson D, Perl E R, Schmidt R F, Shimazu H, Willis W D eds., Progress in Sensory Physiology, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Germany, 1985, 1–79.
Wilkening A J, Foltz J L, Atkinson T H, Connor M D. An omnidirectional flight trap for ascending and descending insects. Canadian Entomologist, 1981, 113, 453–455.
Egelhaaf M, Hausen K, Reichardt W, Wehrhahn C. Visual course control in flies relies on neuronal computation of object and background motion. Trends in Neurosciences, 1988, 11, 351–358.
Card G, Dickinson M. Performance trade-offs in the flight initiation of Drosophila. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2008, 211, 341–353.
Kain J S, Stokes C, de Bivort B L. Phototactic personality in fruit flies and its suppression by serotonin and white. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2012, 109, 19834–19839.
De J, Varma V, Saha S, Sheeba V, Sharma V K. Significance of activity peaks in fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster, under seminatural conditions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2013, 110, 8984–8989.
Mou X L, Liu Y P, Sun M. Wing motion measurement and aerodynamics of hovering true hoverflies. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2011, 214, 2832–2844.
Liu Y P, Sun M. Wing kinematics measurement and aerodynamics of hovering droneflies. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2008, 211, 2014–2025.
Fry S N, Sayaman R, Dickinson M H. The aerodynamics of free-flight maneuvers in Drosophila. Science, 2003, 300, 495–498.
Walker S M, Thomas A L R, Taylor G K. Deformable wing kinematics in free-flying hoverflies. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 2010, 7, 131–142.
Ellington C P. The aerodynamics of hovering insect flight.III. Kinematics. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences, 1984, 305, 41–78.
Aono H, Liang F, Liu H. Nearand far-field aerodynamics in insect hovering flight: An integrated computational study. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2008, 211, 239–257.
Liang B, Sun M. Aerodynamic interactions between wing and body of a model insect in forward flight and maneuvers. Journal of Bionic Engineering, 2013, 10, 19–27.
Sun M, Yu X. Aerodynamic force generation in hovering flight in a tiny insect. AIAA Journal, 2006, 44, 1532–1540.
Hilgenstock A. A fast method for the elliptic generation of three-dimensional grids with full boundary control. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Numerical Grid Generation in Computational Fluid Mechanics, Swansea, Wales, UK, 1988.
Vance J T, Altshuler D L, Dickson W B, Dickinson M H, Roberts S P. Hovering flight in the honeybee Apis mellifera: Kinematic mechanisms for varying aerodynamic forces. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 2014, 87, 870–881.
Dudley R, Ellington C P. Mechanics of forward flight in bumblebees.I. Kinematics and morphology. Journal of Experimental Biology, 1990, 148, 19–52.
Dudley R. The Biomechanics of Insect Flight: Form, Function, Evolution. Princeton University Press, New Jersey, USA, 2002.
Ellington C P. The aerodynamics of hovering insect flight.II. Morphological parameters. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences, 1984, 305, 17–40.
Sun M, Tang J. Lift and power requirements of hovering flight in Drosophila virilis. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2002, 205, 2413–2427.
Sun M, Du G. Lift and power requirements of hovering insect flight. Acta Mechanica Sinica, 2003, 19, 458–469.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Meng, X., Liu, Y. & Sun, M. Aerodynamics of Ascending Flight in Fruit Flies. J Bionic Eng 14, 75–87 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(16)60379-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(16)60379-7