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The relationship between body angle and flight speed in free‐flying Drosophila
Author(s) -
DAVID C. T.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
physiological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-3032
pISSN - 0307-6962
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3032.1978.tb00148.x
Subject(s) - airspeed , wing , drag , biology , drosophila (subgenus) , body weight , power (physics) , mechanics , physics , thermodynamics , biochemistry , gene , endocrinology
ABSTRACT. The body angle and airspeed of free‐flying Drosophila hydei were measured and found to be inversely related. Values for the forces produced by a fly in level flight were calculated from the measured body angles, using published information from tethered fliers. The drag varied linearly with airspeed. The measured groundspeed of free fliers increased with starvation, not because of the change in weight and thus in the power‐to‐weight ratio, but through behavioural regulation of power output.