Insect Flight

Dr Pringle examines the forms, functions and structures of different flying insect orders.

J. W. S. Pringle (Author)

9780521135009, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 11 March 2010

144 pages
21.6 x 14 x 0.9 cm, 0.19 kg

Throughout the 1950s, methods of experimental analysis led to a great increase in knowledge of the machinery of insect flight. In this 1957 monograph, Dr Pringle brings together the results of his investigations of the mechanics of wing motion, the structure and physiology of flight muscle, aerodynamics, sense organs and nervous co-ordination, and shows how a common structural plan has been perfected during the course of evolution to produce the variety of form and function found in the different insect orders. Of particular interest is the special type of muscle found only in the higher insects and responsible for the very high wing-beat frequencies of some flies and bees. Many different lines of approach have contributed to the understanding of insect flight, and the subject is of great interest to entomologists, comparative physiologists and biological engineers.

Preface
1. General anatomy of the wings and of a wing-bearing segment
2. The form and mechanism of the wing beat
3. The histology, physiology and biochemistry of flight muscle
4. Aerodynamics
5. Nervous and sensory mechanisms
References
Index of insects
Index of subjects.

Subject Areas: Molecular biology [PSD]