QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by DUDLEY, R. Articles by ELLINGTON, C. P. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by DUDLEY, R. Articles by ELLINGTON, C. P.

Journal of Experimental Biology 148,19-52 (1990)
Published by Company of Biologists 1990

Mechanics of Forward Flight in Bumblebees : I. Kinematics and Morphology

R. DUDLEY ¹ and C. P. ELLINGTON ²

¹ Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom.; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, APO Miami, FL 34002, USA.
² Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom

Using high-speed cinematography, bumblebees in free flight were filmed over a range of forward airspeeds. A detailed description of the wing tip and body kinematics was obtained from a three-dimensional reconstruction of the twodimensional film image. A technique for determining quantitatively the angle of attack of the wing was developed. Kinematic parameters found to vary consistently with airspeed were body angle, stroke plane angle, geometrical angle of attack, and rotational angles of the wings at the ends of half-strokes. Results of a morphological analysis of the wings and bodies of thoseinsects filmed in free flight are presented for use in later calculations of the lift and power requirements of forward flight.

Key words: flight, kinematics, bumblebees

Accepted on June 2, 1989