Best description I could come up with; disclaimer - read at your own risk
#1: female with forewings (elytra) removed
#2: 1st unfolding; what I'm calling LW (lower part of wing) has been pulled out from beneath the upper part. Very 3-dimensional, looks like an inverted V when vieved from the front with the fold line at top of inversion.
#3: moving the upper part of the wing at right angles to the thorax cause it to partially rotate ventrally, the lower part of the wing now becomes the major part of the dorsal surface. There is another layer of pleated membrane beneath the LW and it unfolds from a ventral hinge H.
The ventral part A rotates outwards at the point where the pin is holding the wing at right angles to the thorax, see #4.
#4: When A rotates outwards the upper part of the wing that had rotated ventrally now rotates back dorsally and the hinge H is now about half way between labels A and C. The pleated wing membrane (B & C in #3) is now greatly expanded.
This image is again 3-dimensional, all the lower part of the membrane below the dotted red line is laying flat and all the part above the red line is almost vertical.
#5: Moving part C (in #3) forward results in the unfolding of more membrane.
D is just for reference
Earwigs must be some sort of contortionists to unfold their wings, and some sort of packing expert to fold them up again.
#5 has been flattened and floated in alcohol onto a microscope slide; accounts for the odd colours
NU09185
Earwig: Wing Unfolding
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
Earwig: Wing Unfolding
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
- rjlittlefield
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Amazing work, indeed!
I was hoping that somebody else would do this before I felt compelled to try, because I know how very difficult and time-consuming it is to pull off something like this.
To see the mechanism described and illustrated so clearly is a huge treat for me!
I suspect it will also become a standard reference for years in the future.
Nice, very nice...
--Rik
I was hoping that somebody else would do this before I felt compelled to try, because I know how very difficult and time-consuming it is to pull off something like this.
To see the mechanism described and illustrated so clearly is a huge treat for me!
I suspect it will also become a standard reference for years in the future.
Nice, very nice...
--Rik
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- Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:22 am
- Location: Swindon, UK
If I had known Rik was going to do it I would have held off.
The paper would be an interesting read, nice to know if my description was close to what actually occurs.
The paper would be an interesting read, nice to know if my description was close to what actually occurs.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
-
- Posts: 5786
- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:17 am
- Location: Reading, Berkshire, England
Graham:Graham Stabler wrote: I have a paper about this if you are interested, it also has some pretty neat photos but nothing like this.
Graham
I received your PM and replied positively. However, the message is in my Outbox and I can see no way to send it- it may have been sent but it does not show in the Sent box.
EDIT: Rik say's it went, so deleted my e-mail address.
Last edited by NikonUser on Thu Oct 01, 2009 1:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
- rjlittlefield
- Site Admin
- Posts: 23621
- Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:34 am
- Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
- Contact: