Insects are the most successful animal on earth, and their ability to fly is a large contributor to this fact. Flying allows them to travel great distances in relatively short time intervals. Finding food, mates and favorable habitats as well as avoiding predation are some advantages of flying. It may sound easy to describe how insects fly, however it really is not easy at all. The reason for this is virtually everything about how they accomplish flight is species specific!
A few characteristics shared by flying insects are as follows: proper muscles in the right places, the structure of the skeleton the muscles are attached to which enable a large amount of wing movement with a small change of muscle length, and the ability to control direction while flying. In addition to this, their ability to fly is temperature dependent. If the body temperature is to low sleight muscle contractions in the thorax will raise it up enabling maximum efficiency of muscle contractions. Finally and most important, all flying insects must have wings ( Pechenik, 1996 ).
The physics which permit flight in insects is similar to that of an airplane. The body and wing morphology create a higher air pressure under the wing relati
The types of wings and ways they are moved vary depending on the species of insect. The two major types of motion are direct and indirect movement of the wings. Direct movement involves muscles that are attached directly to the wing base. The down stroke of the dragonfly uses this kind of muscle/wing relationship. The more common indirect movement involves muscles attached to a wing joint. The structure of the wing joint allows for a large range of wing movement with short muscle contractions. This hinge type joint acts like a spring and has the ability to store and release energy. In addition to the simple up and down motion, the wing can rotate so the anterior edge of the wing leads during the up and down stroke reducing air resistance and adds to the forward advancement of the animal ( Goldsworthy and Wheeler, 1989 ).
Two very important sensory structures needed to control speed while flying are aerodynamic sense organs and eyes. The aerodynamic organs determine speed of the body
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