BIO325H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Sclerite, Insect Wing, Centroid
Document Summary
The wing of an insect is an example of a first order lever with a distance-speed advantage. The thorax changes shape in response to flight muscles (see. 130), longitudinal and tergosternal; these create forces applied inside the wp (wing process) on a tiny force arm. 2ax is the second axillary sclerite and in effect the very short effort-in arm, between the point of application of the effort and the pivot a of fig. Resilin is strained when the wings are raised storing. Energy at the top of the wingbeat powering the downstroke . The locust wing pivots on a knob of resilin called the pleural wing process. Effort and load are on opposite sides of this fulcrum. For the downstroke, effort is shown in this drawing as a *red arrow (vector) acting up on a tiny force arm (2ndaxillary sclerite). The load arm (pwp to centroid of wing) is by comparison very large.
