Dataset Information

Basal Complex and Basal Venation of Odonata Wings: Structural Diversity and Potential Role in the Wing Deformation.

ABSTRACT: Dragonflies and damselflies, belonging to the order Odonata, are known to be excellent fliers with versatile flight capabilities. The ability to fly over a wide range of speeds, high manoeuvrability and great agility are a few characteristics of their flight. The architecture of the wings and their structural elements have been found to play a major role in this regard. However, the precise influence of individual wing components on the flight performance of these insects remains unknown. The design of the wing basis (so called basal complex) and the venation of this part are responsible for particular deformability and specific shape of the wing blade. However, the wing bases are rather different in representatives of different odonate groups. This presumably reflects the dimensions of the wings on one hand, and different flight characteristics on the other hand. In this article, we develop the first three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) models of the proximal part of the wings of typical representatives of five dragonflies and damselflies families. Using a combination of the basic material properties of insect cuticle, a linear elastic material model and a nonlinear geometric analysis, we simulate the mechanical behaviour of the wing bases. The results reveal that although both the basal venation and the basal complex influence the structural stiffness of the wings, it is only the latter which significantly affects their deformation patterns. The use of numerical simulations enabled us to address the role of various wing components such as the arculus, discoidal cell and triangle on the camber formation in flight. Our study further provides a detailed representation of the stress concentration in the models. The numerical analysis presented in this study is not only of importance for understanding structure-function relationship of insect wings, but also might help to improve the design of the wings for biomimetic micro-air vehicles (MAVs).

SUBMITTER: Rajabi H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4981387 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Basal Complex and Basal Venation of Odonata Wings: Structural Diversity and Potential Role in the Wing Deformation.

Rajabi H H Ghoroubi N N Malaki M M Darvizeh A A Gorb S N SN

PloS one 20160811 8

Dragonflies and damselflies, belonging to the order Odonata, are known to be excellent fliers with versatile flight capabilities. The ability to fly over a wide range of speeds, high manoeuvrability and great agility are a few characteristics of their flight. The architecture of the wings and their structural elements have been found to play a major role in this regard. However, the precise influence of individual wing components on the flight performance of these insects remains unknown. The de ...[more]

PMID: 27513753

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundThe New World Tropics has experienced a dynamic landscape across evolutionary history and harbors a high diversity of flora and fauna. While there are some studies addressing diversification in Neotropical vertebrates and plants, there is still a lack of knowledge in arthropods. Here we examine temporal and spatial diversification patterns in the damselfly family Polythoridae, which comprises seven genera with a total of 58 species distributed across much of Central and South America.ResultsOur time-calibrated phylogeny for 48 species suggests that this family radiated during the late Eocene (~ 33 Ma), diversifying during the Miocene. As with other neotropical groups, the Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) of most of the Polythoridae genera has a primary origin in the Northern Andes though the MRCA of at least one genus may have appeared in the Amazon Basin. Our molecular clock suggests correlations with some major geographical events, and our biogeographical modeling (with BioGeoBEARS and RASP) found a significant influence of the formation of the Pebas and Acre systems on the early diversification of these damselflies, though evidence for the influence of the rise of the different Andean ranges was mixed. Diversification rates have been uniform in all genera except one-Polythore-where a significant increase in the late Pliocene (~ 3 mya) may have been influenced by recent Andean uplift.ConclusionThe biogeographical models implemented here suggest that the Pebas and Acre Systems were significant geological events associated with the diversification of this damselfly family; while diversification in the tree shows some correlation with mountain building events, it is possible that other abiotic and biotic changes during our study period have influenced diversification as well. The high diversification rate observed in Polythore could be explained by the late uplift of the Northern Andes. However, it is possible that other intrinsic factors like sexual and natural selection acting on color patterns could be involved in the diversification of this genus.

Project description:The last time the phylogenetic relationships among members of the family Hemerobiidae were studied quantitatively was over 12 years ago and based exclusively on morphology. Our study builds upon this morphological evidence by adding sequence data from three gene loci to provide a total evidence phylogeny of brown lacewings (Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae). Thirty-seven species representing nineteen Hemerobiidae genera were compared with outgroups from the families Ithonidae, Psychopsidae and Chrysopidae in Bayesian and parsimony analyses using a single nuclear gene (CAD) and two mitochondrial (16S rDNA and Cytochrome Oxidase I) genes. We compare divergence time estimates of Hemerobiidae cladogenesis under the two most commonly used relaxed clock models and discuss the evolution of wing venation in the family.We recovered a phylogeny largely incongruent with previously published morphological studies, although all but two subfamilies (i.e., Notiobiellinae and Drepanacrinae) were recovered as monophyletic. We found the subfamily Drepanacrinae paraphyletic with respect to Psychobiellinae, and Notiobiellinae to be polyphyletic. We thus offer a revised concept of Notiobiellinae, comprising only Notiobiella Banks, and erect a new subfamily Zachobiellinae including the remaining genera previously placed in Notiobiellinae. Psychobiellinae is synonymized with Drepanacrinae. Unlike the previous hypothesis that proposed a remarkably laddered topology, our tree suggests that hemerobiids diverged as three main clades. Moreover, in contrast to the vein proliferation hypothesis, we found that hemerobiids have instead undergone multiple reductions in the number of radial veins, this scenario questions the relevance of this character as diagnostic of various subfamiliesOur phylogenetic hypothesis and divergence times analysis suggest that extant hemerobiids originated around the end of the Triassic and evolved as three distinct clades that diverged from one another during the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. Contrary to earlier phylogenetic hypotheses, Carobius Banks (Carobiinae) is sister to the previously unplaced genus Notherobius New in a clade more closely related to Sympherobiinae, Megalominae and Zachobiellinae subfam. nov. The addition of taxa which are not available for DNA sequencing should be the focus of future studies, especially Adelphohemerobius Oswald, which is particularly important to test our inferences regarding the evolution of wing venation in Hemerobiidae.

Dataset Information

Basal Complex and Basal Venation of Odonata Wings: Structural Diversity and Potential Role in the Wing Deformation.

Publications

Basal Complex and Basal Venation of Odonata Wings: Structural Diversity and Potential Role in the Wing Deformation.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets