Despite extensive research on the biomechanics of insect wings over the past years, direct mechanical measurements on sensitive wing specimens remain very challenging. This is especially true for examining delicate museum specimens. This has made the finite element method popular in studies of wing biomechanics. Considering the complexities of insect wings, developing a wing model is usually error-prone and time-consuming. Hence, numerical studies in this area have often accompanied oversimplified models. Here we address this challenge by developing a new tool for fast, precise modelling of insect wings. This application, called WingGram, uses computer vision to detect the boundaries of wings and wing cells from a 2D image. The app can be used to develop wing models that include complex venations, corrugations and camber. WingGram can extract geometric features of the wings, including dimensions of the wing domain and subdomains and the location of vein junctions. Allowing researchers to simply model wings with a variety of forms, shapes and sizes, our application can facilitate studies of insect wing morphology and biomechanics. Being an open-access resource, WingGram has a unique application to expand how scientists, educators, and industry professionals analyse insect wings and similar shell structures in other fields, such as aerospace.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9386019 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-17859-9 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Natural and sexual selection and functional roles influence colouration but not the amount of variation in butterfly wing colour patterns.
BMC Ecol Evol
January 2025
National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, GKVK Campus, Bellary Road, Bengaluru, 560065, India.
Background: Trait variation is shaped by functional roles of traits and the strength and direction of selection acting on the traits. We hypothesized that in butterflies, sexually selected colouration is more variable owing to condition-dependent nature and directional selection on sexual ornaments, whereas naturally selected colouration may be less variable because of stabilising selection. We measured reflectance spectra, and extracted colour parameters, to compare the amount of variation in sexually versus naturally selected colour patches across wing surfaces and sexes of 20 butterfly species across 4 families (Nymphalidae, Papilionidae, Pieridae, Lycaenidae).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTargeting the Hh and Hippo pathways by miR-7 suppresses the development of insect wings.
Insect Sci
January 2025
College of Life Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, Shandong Province, China.
Wings are important organs of insects involved in flight, mating, and other behaviors, and are therefore prime targets for pest control. The formation of insect wings is a complex process that is regulated by multiple pathways. The Hedgehog (Hh) pathway regulates the distribution of wing veins, while the Hippo pathway modulates wing size.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChanges in blowfly (Diptera: Calliphoridae) wing morphology during succession in rat carcasses across forest and grassland habitats in South Brazil.
Insect Sci
January 2025
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade Animal, Departamento de Ecologia e Evolução, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil.
Succession is one of the most extensively studied ecological phenomena, yet debates persist about the importance of dispersal and external factors in driving this process. We aimed to quantify the influence of these factors by investigating how wing-related traits evolve across succession of blowfly (Diptera: Calliphoridae) communities in South Brazil. Rat carrion was placed in both forest and grassland habitats, and the associated blowfly communities were documented throughout the decomposition process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcrobatics at the insect scale: A durable, precise, and agile micro-aerial robot.
Sci Robot
January 2025
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Aerial insects are exceptionally agile and precise owing to their small size and fast neuromotor control. They perform impressive acrobatic maneuvers when evading predators, recovering from wind gust, or landing on moving objects. Flapping-wing propulsion is advantageous for flight agility because it can generate large changes in instantaneous forces and torques.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDorsoventral comparison of intraspecific variation in the butterfly wing pattern using a convolutional neural network.
Biol Lett
January 2025
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Biology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Butterfly wing patterns exhibit notable differences between the dorsal and ventral surfaces, and morphological analyses of them have provided insights into the ecological and behavioural characteristics of wing patterns. Conventional methods for dorsoventral comparisons are constrained by the need for homologous patches or shared features between two surfaces, limiting their applicability across species. We used a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based analysis, which can compare images of the two surfaces without focusing on homologous patches or features, to detect dorsoventral bias in two types of intraspecific variation: sexual dimorphism and mimetic polymorphism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!