The maximum speed of a fly in flight: the amazing properties of two-winged pilots

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Flies are known to all flying, annoying insects. In the warm season, they greatly annoy a person: they bite, do not let them sleep and spoil food. Insects are unpleasant to people, and scientists are of great interest, in particular, special attention is paid to questions about how flies fly. From the point of view of aerodynamics, the flight of this Diptera is a unique phenomenon.

Content

How are the wings of a fly
Features of a fly's flight
Amazing aerodynamic properties of flies

How are the wings of a fly

The wings of vertebrates are set in motion with the help of their own muscles, but there are no muscles in the wings of this arthropod. They move due to the contraction of the muscles of the chest, with which they are connected using a special device.

At the same time, the wings themselves are arranged differently than those of birds and bats. They consist of an upper and lower wall, each of which is formed by a layer of hypodermis, and is covered on top with a cuticle. Between the walls is a narrow space filled with hemolymph.

The wing also has a system of chitinous tubes-veins. The lack of a second pair of wings allows the flies to move more frequently and maneuver while flying. The hind pairs of wings are reduced into oblong outgrowth organs called halteres.

These organs play a key role during takeoff - thanks to their vibrations, which occur at a certain frequency, the insect is able not to gradually increase the frequency of wing beats, but immediately launch a high flapping speed, which allows it to break away from the surface in a second.

Also, the halteres are lowered by receptors that act as stabilizers - they move at the same frequency as the wings. The sound that is heard during the flight of a fly (the same "buzz") is the result of the vibration of these organs, and not the flapping of the wings.

The flying muscles of an insect are divided into 2 groups: power and guiding (steering). The former are highly developed and are considered among the most powerful in the animal kingdom. But they are not flexible, so it is impossible to maneuver with their help. The steering muscles give accuracy to the flight - there are twelve of them.

Features of a fly's flight

Anyone can be convinced of the originality of the aerodynamics of flight - for this it is enough to look at the insect. It can be seen that Diptera do not seem to control their flight: they either hover in the air, then abruptly rush forward or change their direction, turning over in the air. This behavior interested scientists from the California Research Institute. To study the mechanism of flight, experts set up an experiment on a Drosophila fly. The insect was placed in a special flight stimulator: inside it, it flapped its wings, and the environment around it changed, forcing it to change the direction of flight.

In the course of research, it was revealed that flies do not have a certain trajectory - they fly in zigzags. At the same time, the flight is not so chaotic, its orientation is most often determined by the internal needs of the insect: hunger, the instinct of reproduction, a sense of danger - if a fly sees an obstacle in its path, it quickly and successfully maneuvers. Surprisingly, a fly does not need acceleration to take off, and it does not need to slow down to land. To date, researchers have not been able to fully study all the mechanisms of such an unusual movement.

The main types of fly flight

There is no clear division between different types of flight and there are many variations of them.

Most often, scientists use the following classification:

drifting - the insect moves under the influence of an external force, for example, wind;
parachute - the fly takes off, and then spreads its wings in the air and descends, as if on a parachute;
soaring - the insect uses air currents, due to which there is a movement forward and upward.

If a dipteran needs to overcome a considerable distance (about 2-3 km.), Then it develops high speed and does not stop during the flight.

Flight of a fly. (See everything!) #13

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How fast does a fly fly

An arthropod flies faster than a person walks. Its average flight speed is 6,4 km/h.

There are varieties that have much higher speed indicators, for example, horseflies are able to reach speeds of up to 60 km / h.

The ability of Diptera to fly quickly provides them with excellent survival: they easily hide from enemies and find favorable conditions for existence.

How high can it fly

Scientists managed to find out that the flight height is limited, but the indicators are still impressive - an adult is able to fly up to the 10th floor. At the same time, it is known that external factors, such as wind speed and direction, affect the flight altitude.

On the net, you can find information that it was noticed that flies reach the 20th floor, but there is no experimental evidence for this.

Flies do not have to rise too high at all: everything they need for a normal existence is close to the ground. They find their food in landfills, garbage dumps and human dwellings.

fly speed.

The maximum flight range of a fly

The insect is also striking in its ability to travel long distances - it is able to fly 3 km. non-stop for just an hour. However, for these abilities to manifest themselves, the insect must have good reasons.

As mentioned above, they are driven by physiological needs such as hunger, the desire to mate, or the need to lay eggs. More often they do not fly such long distances, since in the immediate vicinity they can find everything they need.

Amazing aerodynamic properties of flies

In aerodynamics, no insect can compare with it. If researchers can unravel all the secrets of its flight, then on these principles it will be possible to build an ultra-modern aircraft. During the study of fly flights, scientists recorded several interesting points:

During the flight, the wing performs movements resembling rowing with oars - it rotates with respect to the longitudinal axis and occupies a variety of positions.
In one second, the insect makes several hundred flaps of its wings.
The flight is very maneuverable - in order to turn around at high speed by 120 degrees, the fly makes about 18 flaps in 80 milliseconds.

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