Maneuverability results from structure: dragonfly. "The body of a dragonfly looks like a helical structure wrapped with metal.
Two wings are cross-placed on a body that displays a colour gradation from ice blue to maroon. Because of this structure, the dragonfly is equipped with supreme maneuverability. No matter at what speed or direction it is already moving, it can immediately stop and start flying in the opposite direction. Alternatively, it can remain suspended in air for the purpose of hunting. At that position, it can move quite swiftly towards it prey. "The dragonfly has two pairs of wings, one in a forward position with respect to the other. Odonata Odonata Learn more at Organism/taxonomy data provided by: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist Application Ideas: Improved designs for wind turbines. Industrial Sector(s) interested in this strategy: Energy, aviation. Wings allow movement in viscous solutions: fairy fly. Wings allow for silent flight: owls.
Owls are known as silent predators of the night, capable of flying just inches from their prey without being detected.
The quietness of their flight is owed to the anatomy of their wing feathers, which have a leading edge that reduces turbulence. Turbulence typically creates a “gushing” noise when released in large forces. But the leading edge of the owl’s feathers break up this large turbulence into smaller, micro-turbulences that reduce the amount of noise. This leading edge is filled with different structures (hooks and bows) that create a stiff, serrated edge of various lengths. As air flows over and through a feather, these varied lengths and structures cause the air to be distributed into smaller vortices that disperse at different times into different directions (oscillations), breaking up an otherwise single, large air force.
If not for the feather’s serrated edges, there would be only one, large air vortex formed at the trailing edge of the feather’s airflow. Seedpod autorotates: sycamore. Samara of the sycamore autorotates due to curved shape. > Visit strategy page "European maples and sycamores have an even more economical design. They are equipped with only a single wing, sprouting from one side. The balance between the weight of the seed and the length of the wing is so accurately matched that these seeds also spin … Even in a light breeze their tiny spinning helicopters can travel for very long distances across the … countryside. " (Attenborough 1995:19) Acer pseudoplatanus Acer pseudoplatanus L. IUCN Red List Status: Not Evaluated Habitat(s): Forest Some organism data provided by: ITIS: The Integrated Taxonomic Information System Organism/taxonomy data provided by: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist.
Wing overcomes resistance: Pallas's long-tongued bat. "On the downstroke of a bird's wing during slow flight, for instance, the primary feathers form a solid plane that pushes downward and backward on the air, propelling the bird upward and forward.
On the upstroke, the primaries separate, and much of the air that would push the bird back down rushes through the gaps instead. The wing of a bat, however, is a membrane that offers continuous resistance. What happens during its upstroke? Anders Hedenström of Lund University in Sweden and his colleagues studied vortices in the wake of the Pallas's long-tongued bat, Glossophaga soricina, in the fog-filled air of a wind tunnel. At slow speeds, they discovered, both the downstroke and the upstroke push the animal up and forward. Whether the flip-flop is common to all bats or an adaptation special to the ones that hover—such as G. soricina, a nectar-eater—remains to be seen.
Watch Videos Pallas's long-tongued bat Glossophaga soricina (Pallas, 1766) Common name: Pallas's long-tongued bat. Wing structure allows rapid acceleration: dragonfly. "Dragonflies flap and pitch their wings at a rate of about 40 Hz, creating whirlwinds as illustrated in figure 2 [see online paper listed in references].
A peculiarity of the dragonfly is its use of a rowing motion along an inclined stroke plane. During hovering, the body lies almost horizontal. The wings push backward and downward, and at the end of the stroke, feather and slice upward and forward. In contrast, many other hovering insects use a symmetrical back-and-forth stroke near a horizontal stroke plane. The dragonfly’s asymmetric rowing motion allows it to support much of its weight by the upward drag created during the downstroke; for the more common symmetric motion, the drag roughly cancels.