Wings Combine Support and Material Economy

detail of a dragonfly wing from below against a blue sky background

Biological Strategy

Insects

AskNature Team

Image: Jack Kaminski / Unsplash / Free non-commercial use

Optimize Shape/Materials

Resources are limited and the simple act of retaining them requires resources, especially energy. Living systems must constantly balance the value of resources obtained with the costs of resources expended; failure to do so can result in death or prevent reproduction. Living systems therefore optimize, rather than maximize, resource use. Optimizing shape ultimately optimizes materials and energy. An example of such optimization can be seen in the dolphin’s body shape. It’s streamlined to reduce drag in the water due to an optimal ratio of length to diameter, as well as features on its surface that lie flat, reducing turbulence.

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Insects

Class Insecta (“an insect”): Flies, ants, beetles, cockroaches, fleas, dragonflies

Insects are the most abundant arthropods—they make up 90% of the animals in the phylum. They’re found everywhere on earth except the deep ocean, and scientists estimate there are millions of insects not yet described. Most live on land, but many live in freshwater or saltwater marshes for part of their life cycles. Insects have three distinct body sections: a head, which has specialized mouthparts, a thorax, which has jointed legs, and an abdomen. They have well-developed nervous and sensory systems, and are the only invertebrate that can fly, thanks to their lightweight exoskeletons and small size.

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The wings of insects combine structural support and material economy because they are flat, braced surfaces.

“Insect wings provide yet another example of braced, flat surfaces–cylindrical cantilever beams (veins) support a thin membrane. A pound of fruit-fly wings laid end to end would stretch about 500 miles, a very low mass per unit length–a steel wire to go so far would have about the same diameter as a red blood cell. Yet in each second of flight the tip of a wing moves several meters and reverses direction four hundred times. Other paddles and fins are fairly flat as well, as are some feathers, the book gills of horseshoe crabs, and a scattering of other stiff structures. In all these cases, though, flatness suits functions other than support. From a mechanical viewpoint the flatness of these systems, however impressive, is perhaps best regarded as a necessary evil–and their designs incorporate features that offset their intrinsically low flexural stiffness.” (Vogel 2003:439)