How do insects fly? I need a one page report by tonight eastern time. Thanks!?

Answer 1

This is how bees fly (there was a myth that mathematically bees can't fly) http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/5/10/9

"The wings of a bumblebee bend to create vortices that provide lift on both the upward and downward strokes, and a full analysis of the bee's flight involves many factors: wing angle, wing deformation, aerodynamic and inertial forces on the wing, and so on. All of these parameters are expressed in terms of 'body vector' - that is, the exact orientation of the insect's body. "

If you're really desperate you could read this wiki article on insect flight: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_flight

Answer 2

Obviously insects flap their wings. But not all insects flap them the same way. Insects can be divided into two classes based on muscle structure.

The first class uses muscles to move their wings up and down kind of like a bird. Insects in this group include dragon flies, moths and butterflies. Dragonflies like most insects have two sets of wings. The wings alternate strokes so that when the front wings are up the back wings are down and vice-versa. This how dragon flies just hoover in place above a pond. The butterflies and moths are little different in that they just use one big set of wings. This is not nearly as efficient as the two wing setup of the dragonfly. When ever the butterfly moves its wings down it gains lift and when its wings move up it pushes the moth down a little bit. This is why you will never see a butterfly fly in a straight line, and also why birds have a very difficult time trying to eat butterflies!

Group two contains insects that only have muscles to move their wings up. These mussels move the wings up by pulling the insects body closer together. The best example I can give of this is hold out your arms, and then imagine some one trying pull your shoulder blades together. The down stroke is caused by their elastic exoskeleton springing back into place. Insects in this group can move their wings at a much faster rate and include flies, Beatles, bees, ants, termites, and many more. When these insects flap their wings they tend to move in an almost swimming like motion so that they are turned sideways on the down stroke, preventing the up and down butterfly type flight. One of the most interesting insects in this group is actually the common housefly. This insect has adapted its second set of wings into what looks like a little ball on a rope. These are called halters, and by spinning them around very fast it allows the fly to stay oriented and do things like land on your ceiling.

Finally there are insects with out wings. If you ever see an insect with out wings it is probably just not an adult yet. With the exception of things like walking sticks and other insects in this class.

I think I may have gone into way too much detail, but that is a brief explanation of how insects fly.

Answer 3

Umm... I would say wings, but that might be oversimplifying it.