Flapping frequency and resonant frequency of insect wings

Abstract

In this study, we experimentally studied the relationship between wingbeat frequency and resonant frequency of 30 individuals of eight insect species from five families: Odonata (Sympetrum flaveolum), Lepidoptera (Pieris rapae, Plusia gamma and Ochlodes), Hymenoptera (Xylocopa pubescens and Bombus rupestric), Hemiptera (Tibicen linnei) and Coleoptera (Allomyrina dichotoma). We found that wingbeat frequency does not have a strong relation with resonance frequency: in other words, insects have not been evolved sufficiently to flap at their wings' structural resonant frequency. This contradicts the general conclusion of other reports-that insects flap at their wings' resonant frequency to take advantage of passive deformation to save energy.