Meeting Abstract
Maximum aerodynamic force production is a parameter critical to extreme performance in volant taxa, and which may also be relevant to optimization of force production in micro air vehicles. Here, we describe a new method for measuring maximum force production in free-flying animals, and present associated data for the wandering glider dragonfly. Flight trajectories were repeatedly acquired from pull-up responses by insects dropped in mid-air with submaximal loads attached to the center of body mass. Forces were estimated from calculations of the maximum time-averaged acceleration through time, and multiple estimates were obtained per individual so as to statistically facilitate approximation of their maximum capacity through use of the Weibull distribution. On a group level, wandering glider dragonflies are capable of producing total aerodynamic force equal to ~4.4 times their own body weight, a value which significantly exceeds earlier estimates made for load-lifting dragonflies, and for other volant taxa in sustained vertical load-lifting experiments. Allometric analysis further indicates that, among individuals, maximum force production declined systematically with increased body mass.
