Hydrofoil-like legs help stream mayfly larvae to stay on the ground.

ABSTRACT: Adaptations to flow have already been in the focus of early stream research, but till today morphological adaptations of stream insects are hardly understood. While most previous stream research focused on drag, the effects of lift on ground-living stream insects have been often overlooked. Stream mayfly larvae Ecdyonurus sp. graze on algae on top of the stones and therefore inhabit current exposed places in streams. They have a dorso-ventrally flattened body shape, which is known to reduce drag. However, this body shape enhances lift too, increasing the danger for the animal of getting detached from the substrate. Using microscopic techniques, 3D-printing, and drag and lift measurements in a wind tunnel, our experiments show that the widened femora of Ecdyonurus sp. can generate negative

SUBMITTER: Ditsche P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10006037 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature