Quantifying the Aerodynamic Power Required for Flight and Testing for Adaptive Wind Drift in Passion-Vine Butterflies Heliconius sara (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae).

ABSTRACT: Although theoretical work on optimal migration has been largely restricted to birds, relevant free-flight data are now becoming available for migratory insects. Here we report, for the first time in passion-vine butterflies, that Heliconius sara migrates directionally. To test optimal migration models for insects, we quantified the aerodynamic power curve for free-flying H. sara as they migrated across the Panama Canal. Using synchronized stereo-images from high-speed video cameras, we reconstructed three-dimensional flight kinematics of H. sara migrating naturally across the Panama Canal. We also reconstructed flight kinematics from a single-camera view of butterflies flying through a flight tunnel. We calculated the power requirements for flight for H. sara ov

SUBMITTER: Srygley RB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9959374 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature