Ant Lab on YouTube - slomo insects. Well worth a look

[Beatsy]

Amazing videos - Ant Lab on YouTube.

Here's a couple, but well worth exploring the channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbOzYMKROs8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnn9CfsYJqc

[Lou Jost]

That's wonderful footage. I also got drawn into some of the other videos advertised with these. I was impressed by this one about dragonflies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxrLYv0QXa4
I never before realized that all dragonflies have a little thickened spot, usually colored, on the leading edge of each wing, near the wingtip, to tune the dynamics of the wing.

[rjlittlefield]

These are superb videos, all around.

I have read that the flight mechanism of the dragonfly is considered primitive in its overall architecture. The irony then is that this "primitive" architecture has been so highly refined in its details, that it still outperforms almost everything else out there.

https://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/exhibits/li ... /intro.htm puts it this way:

Although the wing structure and arrangement of the flight muscles are primitive, the flight performance and efficiency are remarkable. Unlike most insects, dragonflies usually beat their forewings and hindwings separately - when the forewings are up, the hindwings are down. Each wing also has much independent control, accounting for the surprising manoeuvrability of many species, which can fly upwards, sideways, backwards and forwards. A large darner can fly up to 60 km per hour.

--Rik

[Troels]

Lots of beautiful and interesting videos and engaging explanations.

[rjlittlefield]

This morning YouTube offered me the Ant Lab video "How do click beetles jump?"

That's an effect that I got interested in some years ago, as posted in the "old forum" at photomacrography1.net , HERE and the links therein.

The Ant Lab video is far more pleasant to look at!

--Rik

[MarkSturtevant]

Cool stuff. I remember as a boy trying to catch a common green darner in my net. It would hover near me. I would take a swing at it, trying to net move the net as fast as I could. The big dragonfly would wait, then deftly dodge the net at the last instant, only to return to its hovering position. It was highly impressive.
It's probably mentioned somewhere, but the 'nodes' near their wing tips ("pterostigma") are thought to be tiny weights that dampen vibrations of the beating wings. This reduces on their wear and tear.

Male dragonflies effectively have two sets of genitalia. One set at the tip of the abdomen, which produces the sperm, and a second set near the base of the abdomen. He transfers sperm to that second set, and its that set that is used to mate with the female. Thought I'd throw that in there.

[Beatsy]

...Male dragonflies effectively have two sets of genitalia. One set at the tip of the abdomen, which produces the sperm, and a second set near the base of the abdomen. He transfers sperm to that second set, and its that set that is used to mate with the female. Thought I'd throw that in there.

"...Thought I'd throw that in there"

Ewww - not quite the phrasing I'd have chosen!

Fascinating though. And now I "need" to know how the transfer happens...