Dragonfly mechanics - a photo on Flickriver

Dragonflies are aerial predators, ruling the skies and terrorizing other airborne insects since before the dinosaurs. Although they have a more "primitive" flight mechanism than other insects, this does not mean they are poorer fliers; they are, in certain ways, more agile than anything that has evolved afterwards. After all, if they couldn't outmaneuver their prey, they would have gone extinct long ago...

An engineer's dream, its wings provide the dragonfly with outstanding speed and maneuverability. They feature a direct flight mechanism with wing muscles connecting directly to the wing bases, which are hinged so that a small movement of the wing base downward lifts the wing itself upwards (much like an oar). When in flight, the wings perform a figure-8 motion, creating vortices of swirling air that keep the insect aloft. They take advantage of unsteady viscous fluid dynamics in a way we are still striving to comprehend. Fore and hind wings operate independently, which gives a degree of fine control and mobility not seen in other flying insects, in terms of the abruptness with which they can change direction and speed.

Sources:
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_flight
- www.news.cornell.edu/releases/March00/APS_Wang.hrs.html
and many more: www.google.com/search?q=dragonfly+wing+flight+mechanics

This is a Scarlet darter (Crocothemis erythraea) male.
Best viewed Large, On Black (highly recommended!)

Click here for more photos of this species in my photostream.

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Taken in: Ελλάδα / Crete / Fodhele (show map)

Taken on: August 12, 2007

Tags:

scarlet

darter

Animalia

Arthropoda

Hexapoda

Insecta

Odonata

Anisoptera

Libellulidae

Crocothemis

erythraea

Canon EOS 400D

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

Vivitar 2x Teleconverter

Canon Speedlite 430EX

AnimalKingdomElite

SpecInsect

NaturesFinest

APlusPhoto

OutstandingShots

NaturesGallery

MacroFoted

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AwesomeBug

TheUnforgettablePictures

QUALITY

AnAwesomeShot

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taxonomy:kingdom=Animalia

taxonomy:phylum=Arthropoda

taxonomy:class=Insecta

taxonomy:order=Odonata

taxonomy:family=Libellulidae

taxonomy:genus=Crocothemis

taxonomy:binomial=Crocothemis erythraea

taxonomy:common=Scarlet Darter

1500v60f

insecte

insect

nature

animal

insectes

macro

insects

libellules

libellule

dragonflies

odonates

odonate

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Camera: Canon EOS 400D, f/11.0, 1/200 sec, 100mm, ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 400D
Lens:	EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	0.005 sec (1/200)
Focal Length:	100mm
ISO:	200
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	On, Fired
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
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