Joel Kontinen
Butterflies are designed to be effective fliers.
Notwithstanding their tiny brains, they are superb navigators.
A fresh study highlighted yet another of their amazing traits. Their tiny, 0.1 millimetre long scales on their wings are there for a purpose.
An article in Science states:
“Those incredibly tiny scales … are arranged like roof shingles on the wing, making it a little rough. But until now, no one knew how that roughness affected flight. So a group of engineers filmed 11 free-flying monarch butterflies, first with their scales and then after their scales had been stripped off. Using a special chamber with 22 cameras to track the insects with submillimeter precision, they found that the scales boosted climbing efficiency between 16% and 82%, they reported today at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.”
The article also included a biomimicry dimension. It went on to say that engineers might use this design to improve small flying robots.
Biomimicry or copying intelligent designs seen in nature is a big challenge to Darwinian evolution.
We should not forget that if something works, it has to be designed.
Butterflies are designed very well.
Source:
Pennisi, Elizabeth. 2017. Scaly wings help these butterflies soar. Science (5 January).
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