spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gilmour, K. M.
Right arrow Articles by Ellington, C. P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Gilmour, K. M.
Right arrow Articles by Ellington, C. P.

Journal of Experimental Biology, Vol 183, Issue 1 77-100, Copyright © 1993 by Company of Biologists

JOURNAL ARTICLES

POWER OUTPUT OF GLYCERINATED BUMBLEBEE FLIGHT MUSCLE

K. M. Gilmour and C. P. Ellington

The properties of asynchronous insect flight muscle have been examined using a glycerol- extracted single-fibre preparation of dorsal longitudinal muscle from the bumblebees Bombus lucorum and B. terrestris. Chemical, mechanical and thermal conditions were controlled with the objective of maximizing power output. The problems arising from diffusion limitation were avoided through a combination of fibre paring and the use of an ATP backup system. Work and power output tended to increase with increasing oscillatory strain in the range 1-5 %. Workloop shape, and hence work and power, varied with fibre extension; optimum extensions ranged from 4 to 12 %. The mechanical performance of glycerinated bumblebee muscle fibres was strongly temperature-dependent, and rate processes (frequency, power) displayed higher thermal sensitivities than processes associated with tension development (work). The experimental conditions that maximized the power output were identified as: oscillatory strain epsilon=4-5 %, extension epsilono=8-10 %, oscillation frequency f=50 Hz and temperature T=40°C. The maximum power output observed under these 'optimal' conditions was about 110 W kg-1 (muscle), demonstrating for the first time that glycerinated fibres are capable of producing the power predicted from free-flight studies to be required for flight: 100 W kg-1.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
D. L. Altshuler, W. B. Dickson, J. T. Vance, S. P. Roberts, and M. H. Dickinson
Short-amplitude high-frequency wing strokes determine the aerodynamics of honeybee flight
PNAS, December 13, 2005; 102(50): 18213 - 18218.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
R. Josephson, J. Malamud, and D. Stokes
Power output by an asynchronous flight muscle from a beetle
J. Exp. Biol., January 9, 2000; 203(17): 2667 - 2689.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
F. Lehmann, M. Dickinson, and J Staunton
The scaling of carbon dioxide release and respiratory water loss in flying fruit flies (Drosophila spp.)
J. Exp. Biol., January 5, 2000; 203(10): 1613 - 1624.
[Abstract] [PDF]


© The Company of Biologists Ltd 1993