HORISAWA, S.*; DUDLEY, R.; Univ. of California, Berkeley; Univ. of California, Berkeley: Three-Dimensional Wing Kinematics of Erratic Flight in Free-Flying Butterflies

Many insects can fly erratically. In particular, it is well known that butterflies exhibit erratic, irregular, and unpredictable flight paths which might help in evading attack from aerial predators. Palatability of butterflies is correlated with diverse morphological features, flight speeds, and flight trajectories: palatable butterflies tend to fly erratically and rapidly, whereas unpalatable butterflies tend to fly regularly and slowly. We focus on the erratic flight in palatable butterflies and already determined three-dimensional body kinematics to characterize irregular flight paths. In this presentation, we determined three-dimensional wing kinematics of erratic flight in free-flying palatable butterflies, Morpho butterflies (Morpho amathonte) by filming 164 sequences with three fixed high-speed video cameras at 125 frames/s in a big insectary on Barro Colorado Island in the Republic of Panama.