scholarly journals Surpassing Mt. Everest: extreme flight performance of alpine bumble-bees

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 20130922 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael E. Dillon ◽  
Robert Dudley
Keyword(s):  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Excess Capacity ◽  
Wingbeat Frequency ◽  
Hovering Flight ◽  
Primary Means ◽  
Animal Flight ◽  
High Elevations ◽  
Stroke Amplitude

Animal flight at altitude involves substantial aerodynamic and physiological challenges. Hovering at high elevations is particularly demanding from the dual perspectives of lift and power output; nevertheless, some volant insects reside and fly at elevations in excess of 4000 m. Here, we demonstrate that alpine bumble-bees possess substantial aerodynamic reserves, and can sustain hovering flight under hypobaria at effective elevations in excess of 9000 m, i.e. higher than Mt. Everest. Modulation of stroke amplitude and not wingbeat frequency is the primary means of compensation for overcoming the aerodynamic challenge. The presence of such excess capacity in a high-altitude bumble-bee is surprising and suggests intermittent behavioural demands for extreme flight performance supplemental to routine foraging.

scholarly journals Kinematics Measurement and Power Requirements of Fruitflies at Various Flight Speeds

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 4271
Author(s):  
Hao Jie Zhu ◽  
Mao Sun
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
Flight Speed ◽  
Specific Power ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Wingbeat Frequency ◽  
Body Angle ◽  
Flying Insects ◽  
Speed Range ◽  
Full Speed ◽  
Stroke Amplitude

Energy expenditure is a critical characteristic in evaluating the flight performance of flying insects. To investigate how the energy cost of small-sized insects varies with flight speed, we measured the detailed wing and body kinematics in the full speed range of fruitflies and computed the aerodynamic forces and power requirements of the flies. As flight speed increases, the body angle decreases and the stroke plane angle increases; the wingbeat frequency only changes slightly; the geometrical angle of attack in the middle upstroke increases; the stroke amplitude first decreases and then increases. The mechanical power of the fruitflies at all flight speeds is dominated by aerodynamic power (inertial power is very small), and the magnitude of aerodynamic power in upstroke increases significantly at high flight speeds due to the increase of the drag and the flapping velocity of the wing. The specific power (power required for flight divided by insect weigh) changes little when the advance ratio is below about 0.45 and afterwards increases sharply. That is, the specific power varies with flight speed according to a J-shaped curve, unlike those of aircrafts, birds and large-sized insects which vary with flight speed according to a U-shaped curve.

scholarly journals Foraging in an unsteady world: bumblebee flight performance in field-realistic turbulence

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 20160086 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Crall ◽  
J. J. Chang ◽  
R. L. Oppenheimer ◽  
S. A. Combes
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiments ◽  
Insect Flight ◽  
Energetic Cost ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Wingbeat Frequency ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Outdoor Environments ◽  
Stroke Amplitude

Natural environments are characterized by variable wind that can pose significant challenges for flying animals and robots. However, our understanding of the flow conditions that animals experience outdoors and how these impact flight performance remains limited. Here, we combine laboratory and field experiments to characterize wind conditions encountered by foraging bumblebees in outdoor environments and test the effects of these conditions on flight. We used radio-frequency tags to track foraging activity of uniquely identified bumblebee ( Bombus impatiens ) workers, while simultaneously recording local wind flows. Despite being subjected to a wide range of speeds and turbulence intensities, we find that bees do not avoid foraging in windy conditions. We then examined the impacts of turbulence on bumblebee flight in a wind tunnel. Rolling instabilities increased in turbulence, but only at higher wind speeds. Bees displayed higher mean wingbeat frequency and stroke amplitude in these conditions, as well as increased asymmetry in stroke amplitude—suggesting that bees employ an array of active responses to enable flight in turbulence, which may increase the energetic cost of flight. Our results provide the first direct evidence that moderate, environmentally relevant turbulence affects insect flight performance, and suggest that flying insects use diverse mechanisms to cope with these instabilities.

scholarly journals Divergence in Body Mass, Wing Loading, and Population Structure Reveals Species-Specific and Potentially Adaptive Trait Variation Across Elevations in Montane Bumble Bees

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey D Lozier ◽  
Zachary M Parsons ◽  
Lois Rachoki ◽  
Jason M Jackson ◽  
Meaghan L Pimsler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Structure ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Wing Loading ◽  
Trait Variation ◽  
Environmental Pressures ◽  
Environmental Correlations ◽  
High Elevations

Abstract Biogeographic clines in morphology along environmental gradients can illuminate forces influencing trait evolution within and between species. Latitude has long been studied as a driver of morphological clines, with a focus on body size and temperature. However, counteracting environmental pressures may impose constraints on body size. In montane landscapes, declines in air density with elevation can negatively impact flight performance in volant species, which may contribute to selection for reduced body mass despite declining temperatures. We examine morphology in two bumble bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombus Latreille) species, Bombus vancouverensis Cresson and Bombus vosnesenskii Radoszkowski, across mountainous regions of California, Oregon, and Washington, United States. We incorporate population genomic data to investigate the relationship between genomic ancestry and morphological divergence. We find that B. vancouverensis, which tends to be more specialized for high elevations, exhibits stronger spatial-environmental variation, being smaller in the southern and higher elevation parts of its range and having reduced wing loading (mass relative to wing area) at high elevations. Bombus vosnesenskii, which is more of an elevational generalist, has substantial trait variation, but spatial-environmental correlations are weak. Population structure is stronger in the smaller B. vancouverensis, and we find a significant association between elevation and wing loading after accounting for genetic structure, suggesting the possibility of local adaptation for this flight performance trait. Our findings suggest that some conflicting results for body size trends may stem from distinct environmental pressures that impact different aspects of bumble bee ecology, and that different species show different morphological clines in the same region.

Shape of wing wear fails to affect load lifting in common eastern bumble bees (Bombus impatiens) with experimental wing wear

2015 ◽  
Vol 93 (7) ◽  
pp. 531-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan C. Roberts ◽  
Ralph V. Cartar
Keyword(s):  
Effect Size ◽  
Maximum Load ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Bombus Impatiens ◽  
Detectable Effect ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Wingbeat Frequency ◽  
Wing Area ◽  
Irreversible Damage ◽  
Wing Wear

Wing wear reflects the accumulation of irreversible damage to an insect’s wings over its lifetime and this damage should influence flight performance. In the case of bumble bees, flight seems robust to variation in wing-area asymmetry and air pressure, but not to loss of wing area. However, how the pattern of wing wear affects flight performance remains unstudied. In nature, wing wear typically occurs in a ragged and haphazard pattern along the wing’s trailing margin, a shape strikingly different from the straight cut applied in past studies. In this study, we test if shape of wing wear (implemented as four distinct treatments plus a control) affects maximum load-lifting capabilities and wingbeat frequency of worker common eastern bumble bees (Bombus impatiens Cresson, 1863). We found that shape of wing wear of 171 mg bees had no detectable effect on maximum load-lifting capability (detectable effect size = 18 mg) or on wingbeat frequency (detectable effect size = 15 Hz), but that loss of wing area reduced load-lifting capability and increased wingbeat frequency. The importance of wing area in explaining the load-lifting ability of bumble bees is reinforced in this study. But, paradoxically, shape of wing wear did not detectably affect lift generation, which is determined by unsteady aerodynamic forces in these lift-reliant insects.

scholarly journals Power of the wingbeat: modelling the effects of flapping wings in vertebrate flight

2015 ◽  
Vol 471 (2177) ◽  
pp. 20140952 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Klein Heerenbrink ◽  
L. C. Johansson ◽  
A. Hedenström
Keyword(s):  
Energetic Cost ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Large Parameter ◽  
Body Area ◽  
Wingbeat Frequency ◽  
Wing Area ◽  
Wing Motion ◽  
Animal Flight ◽  
Flight Model ◽  
Blade Element

Animal flight performance has been studied using models developed for man-made aircraft. For an aeroplane with fixed wings, the energetic cost as a function of flight speed can be expressed in terms of weight, wing span, wing area and body area, where more details are included in proportionality coefficients. Flying animals flap their wings to produce thrust. Adopting the fixed wing flight model implicitly incorporates the effects of wing flapping in the coefficients. However, in practice, these effects have been ignored. In this paper, the effects of reciprocating wing motion on the coefficients of the fixed wing aerodynamic power model for forward flight are explicitly formulated in terms of thrust requirement, wingbeat frequency and stroke-plane angle, for optimized wingbeat amplitudes. The expressions are obtained by simulating flights over a large parameter range using an optimal vortex wake method combined with a low-level blade element method. The results imply that previously assumed acceptable values for the induced power factor might be strongly underestimated. The results also show the dependence of profile power on wing kinematics. The expressions introduced in this paper can be used to significantly improve animal flight models.

scholarly journals Landscape Enhancements in Apple Orchards: Higher Bumble Bee Queen Species Richness, but No Effect on Apple Quality

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 421
Author(s):  
Amélie Gervais ◽  
Marc Bélisle ◽  
Marc J. Mazerolle ◽  
Valérie Fournier
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Pesticide Use ◽  
Apple Orchards ◽  
Seed Number ◽  
Apple Production ◽  
Apple Quality ◽  
Effective Pollinators ◽  
Quality Weight

Bumble bees are among the most effective pollinators in orchards during the blooming period, yet they are often threatened by the high levels of pesticide use in apple production. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of landscape enhancements (e.g., hedgerows, flower strips) on bumble bee queens in apple orchards. Bumble bee queens from 12 orchards in southern Québec (Canada) were marked, released, and recaptured in the springs and falls of 2017 to 2019. Half of the 12 orchards had landscape enhancements. Apples were harvested in 2018 and 2019 to compare their quality (weight, diameter, sugar level, and seed number) in sites with and without landscape enhancements. Species richness, as well as the occurrence of three species out of eight, was higher in orchards with landscape enhancements than in orchards without such structures. The occurrence of Bombus ternarius was lower in orchards with high levels of pesticide use. Apples had fewer seeds when collected in orchards with landscape enhancements and were heavier in orchards that used more pesticides. Our work provides additional evidence that landscape enhancements improve bumble bee presence in apple orchards and should therefore be considered as a means to enhance pollination within farms.

scholarly journals Olfactory coding in the antennal lobe of the bumble bee Bombus terrestris

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Mertes ◽  
Julie Carcaud ◽  
Jean-Christophe Sandoz
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bees ◽  
Antennal Lobe ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Carbon Chain Length ◽  
Olfactory Coding ◽  
Major Transitions

AbstractSociality is classified as one of the major transitions in evolution, with the largest number of eusocial species found in the insect order Hymenoptera, including the Apini (honey bees) and the Bombini (bumble bees). Bumble bees and honey bees not only differ in their social organization and foraging strategies, but comparative analyses of their genomes demonstrated that bumble bees have a slightly less diverse family of olfactory receptors than honey bees, suggesting that their olfactory abilities have adapted to different social and/or ecological conditions. However, unfortunately, no precise comparison of olfactory coding has been performed so far between honey bees and bumble bees, and little is known about the rules underlying olfactory coding in the bumble bee brain. In this study, we used in vivo calcium imaging to study olfactory coding of a panel of floral odorants in the antennal lobe of the bumble bee Bombus terrestris. Our results show that odorants induce reproducible neuronal activity in the bumble bee antennal lobe. Each odorant evokes a different glomerular activity pattern revealing this molecule’s chemical structure, i.e. its carbon chain length and functional group. In addition, pairwise similarity among odor representations are conserved in bumble bees and honey bees. This study thus suggests that bumble bees, like honey bees, are equipped to respond to odorants according to their chemical features.

The Role of Vortices and Unsteady Effects During the Hovering Flight of Dragonflies

1979 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
STUART B. SAVAGE ◽  
BARRY G. NEWMAN ◽  
DENIS T.-M. WONG
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Flow Visualization ◽  
Inviscid Flow ◽  
Physical Explanation ◽  
Hovering Flight ◽  
Wing Motion ◽  
Unsteady Effects ◽  
Animal Flight

Weis-Fogh and Norberg concluded that steady-state aerodynamics is incapable of explaining how the dragonfly supports its weight during hovering. Norberg also concluded that the wing kinematics of Aeschna juncea L., as determined photographically, are incompatible with those proposed by Weis-Fogh for his Flip mechanism. The present paper has proposed an alternative lift-generating mechanism, various aspects of which are novel from the standpoint of animal flight. Flow visualization tests performed in water established the flow field during a complete cycle of the idealized wing motion. Using this information and unsteady inviscid flow theory the forces were analysed. A plausible balance of horizontal forces and more than sufficient lift were obtained. A physical explanation of the theory is provided for those who do not wish to study the mathematical details.

First Complete Genome of Lake Sinai Virus Lineage 3 and Genetic Diversity of Lake Sinai Virus Strains From Honey Bees and Bumble Bees

2020 ◽  
Vol 113 (3) ◽  
pp. 1055-1061 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Šimenc ◽  
Urška Kuhar ◽  
Urška Jamnikar-Ciglenečki ◽  
Ivan Toplak
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Complete Genome ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Genome Region ◽  
Pcr Method ◽  
Next Generation Sequencing Ngs ◽  
First Time

Abstract The complete genome of Lake Sinai virus 3 (LSV3) was sequenced by the Ion Torrent next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology from an archive sample of honey bees collected in 2010. This strain M92/2010 is the first complete genome sequence of LSV lineage 3. From October 2016 to December 2017, 56 honey bee samples from 32 different locations and 41 bumble bee samples from five different locations were collected. These samples were tested using a specific reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method; 75.92% of honey bee samples and 17.07% of bumble bee samples were LSV-positive with the RT-PCR method. Phylogenetic comparison of 557-base pair-long RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) genome region of selected 23 positive samples of honey bees and three positive bumble bee samples identified three different LSV lineages: LSV1, LSV2, and LSV3. The LSV3 lineage was confirmed for the first time in Slovenia in 2010, and the same strain was later detected in several locations within the country. The LSV strains detected in bumble bees are from 98.6 to 99.4% identical to LSV strains detected among honey bees in the same territory.

scholarly journals Effects of Feather Lice on Flight Behavior of Male Barn Swallows (Hirundo Rustica)

The Auk ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 119 (1) ◽  
pp. 213-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Barbosa ◽  
S. Merino ◽  
Fde Lope ◽  
A. P. Møller
Keyword(s):  
Parasite Load ◽  
Hirundo Rustica ◽  
Flight Behavior ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Wingbeat Frequency ◽  
Feather Lice ◽  
Locomotory Performance ◽  
Flight Parameters ◽  
Barn Swallows ◽  
Foraging Flight

Abstract Parasites may affect host behavior in a number of ways, including their locomotory performance. We investigated whether the number of holes produced by the feather louse (Myrsidea rustica) affected flight behavior in adult male Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) by video-taping flight performance of individuals during escape and level flight. Percentage of time spent flapping during foraging flight was positively related to number of holes, but not to other flight parameters such as wingbeat frequency. These results suggest indirect effects of feather lice on host performance that must be considered together with effects of thermoregulation and feather breakage. This is the first report of an effect of parasite load on flight behavior.

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