US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — An international team of scientists studied the aerodynamics of mosquito flight. The amplitude of the flap of their wings is less than that of other flying insects, therefore, in order to rise and stay in the air, they require special abilities.
The object of study was the coulex, or real mosquito ( Culex ). This genus of insects has 1,216 species; adult kuleks reaches 4–10 mm in length. The wings of mosquitoes are long and thin, and their angular span is only 40 °, which is half that of bees. But at the same time, mosquitoes make about 800 strokes per second, and this figure is much larger than that of other insects of a comparable size.
Scientists from Oxford and other scientific institutions studied the mechanism of flight of mosquitoes. The shooting was carried out using eight cameras, each of which recorded at a speed of 10,000 frames per second. Then, based on computer simulation, a 3D simulation of a mosquito’s flight was created, and this allowed to reveal its secret.
It revealedthat at the end of each stroke, the mosquito additionally also rotates the wing, which creates a powerful vertical traction along its entire length. These aerodynamic principles can be useful to engineers in the development of aircraft.
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