Meeting Abstract
Dragonflies are acrobatic insects that perform critical tasks in flight, such as hunting, mating and navigation. Their wings undergo large, periodic, deformation on each flapping cycle. This aeroelastic response is determined by the interaction of inertial and aerodynamic loads as well as the detailed architectural and material characteristics of the wings. Flying insects detect mechanical strains within the wing via sensory structures called campaniform sensilla embedded within the cuticle of the veins. Information encoded by the campaniform sensilla can be used to monitor instantaneous wing loads and control wing stroke kinematics. Here we combine several microscopy techniques to describe the distribution of campaniform sensilla on the dragonfly wing. The sensory information perceived by each sensillum is largely dependent on its position on the wing, and its own mechanical structure. By identifying the position of campaniform sensilla across the dragonfly wing we can predict how aeroelastic loads are monitored during flight. Additionally, to understand natural loading conditions during free flight we have reconstructed 3D moving and deforming wing geometries based on high-speed recordings subjected to voxel carving. These data are informative for electrophysiological and modelling studies of dragonfly flight.
