About once a second wings of foraging bees collide with small obstacles such as flowers, leaves or branches during flight without suffering major long-term damage. At the same time, they withstand aerodynamic loads effortlessly—yet the fragile structures make up just two percent of the total mass of an insect's body. Scientists from the Zoological Institute at Kiel University (CAU) are investigating how insect wings withstand these different demands without breaking. In an article in the current issue of the journal Advanced Science, they show several special features in the wing structure, thanks to which they are both stable and flexible and can thus adapt to different needs. In the long term, these design strategies could lead to the development of structural elements that are load-bearing, durable and impact resistant at the same time and allow various applications in the fields of robotics, aviation or biomedicine.
source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-insect-wings-collisions.html
