Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Biomechanics

The aerodynamics buzz from mosquitoes

Nature volume 544, pages 40–41 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Mosquitoes flap their long, thin wings four times faster than similarly sized insects. Imaging and computational analysis of mosquito flight illuminates some aerodynamic mechanisms not seen before in animal flight. See Letter p.92

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Mosquito aerodynamics.

Notes

  1. See all news & views

References

  1. Dudley, R. The Biomechanics of Insect Flight: Form, Function, Evolution (Princeton Univ. Press, 2000).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  2. Fry, S. N., Sayaman, R. & Dickinson, M. H. Science 300, 495–498 (2003).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Altshuler, D. L., Dickson, W. B., Vance, J. T., Roberts, S. P. & Dickinson, M. H. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 102, 18213–18218 (2005).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Bomphrey, R. J., Nakata, T., Phillips, N. & Walker, S. M. Nature 544, 92–95 (2017).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Liu, H., Ellington, C. P., Kawachi, C., van den Berg, C. & Willmott, A. P. J. Exp. Biol. 201, 461–477 (1998).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Sane, S. P. & Dickinson, M. H. J. Exp. Biol. 205, 1087–1096 (2002).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. van den Berg, C. & Ellington, C. P. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 352, 317–328 (1997).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Hedrick, T. L., Combes, S. A. & Miller, L. A. Can. J. Zool. 93, 925–943 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Chin, D. D. & Lentink, D. J. Exp. Biol. 219, 920–932 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Nakata, T. Liu, H. & Bomphrey, R. J. J. Fluid Mech. 783, 323–343 (2015).

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laura A. Miller is in the Departments of Biology and Mathematics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA.,

    Laura A. Miller

Authors
  1. Laura A. Miller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laura A. Miller.

Related links

Related links

Related links in Nature Research

Bird flight: Fly with a little flap from your friends

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Miller, L. The aerodynamics buzz from mosquitoes. Nature 544, 40–41 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature21904

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature21904

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing