A mystery for bugfreezer!

Post by **bio** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 1:30 pm

bugfreezer wrote:...why do you think that thrips have feathery wings while most winged insects have solid wings?

Feathery wings are for drifting on air currents when an insect is a poor flyer.

Of course, bats have feathery wings so that they absorb the "sonar" the bat emits... giving less echo back to it's ears from the wing surfaces.

As for them biting people... this page explains that pretty well.

bugfreezer · Post by **bugfreezer** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 2:59 pm

bio wrote:Feathery wings are for drifting on air currents when an insect is a poor flyer.

Not a bad guess, that can certainly be a consequence of the wingform. It works with the tiny parasitoid wasps like what I studied.

bio wrote:Of course, bats have feathery wings so that they absorb the "sonar" the bat emits... giving less echo back to it's ears from the wing surfaces.

huh?????

Bats have only a skin membrane for wings; moreover the wingstroke does not usually cross the ears. Those bats that echolocate have ears that are structured to receive their sonar.

Okay. Here we go...

Remember the hint I gave about torque? Remember that air is a fluid, a very low-density fluid, but a fluid all the same. To an organism that can be a millimeter or less in length, air is considerably heavier for them than it is for us. It takes less energy to push a feathered wing than a full wing spanning the same area. In addition, since the thrips is so light and the air is so much thicker for them, the feathered wing can still generate enough lift to enable them to fly.

bio wrote:As for them biting people... this page explains that pretty well.

Yes, it does. And on a humorous note, there's little room for much brains, so they don't learn that we are not food.

Now for the pics I promised - first comes Rocketdork's:

A larger version can be found here.

Finally, here is a line drawing of a thrips' head (not used by permission):

Based on the info given earlier, I am guessing that you guys have Western flower thrips (dark morph), pear thrips, or possibly greenhouse thrips.

Any other questions?

Post by **bio** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 3:56 pm

bio wrote:Of course, bats have feathery wings so that they absorb the "sonar" the bat emits... giving less echo back to it's ears from the wing surfaces.

Um... did I really type that, or is eddie fucking with me???

If it was me... um... I blame the drugs

Rocketdork · Post by **Rocketdork** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 4:30 pm

its not bats with the feathery wings...its dolphins...it cuts down on the radar echos and helps them shoot down the F117's.

Top secret military project...I guess I'll have to kill you now.

Post by **eddiecanuck** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 5:02 pm

bio wrote:
bio wrote:Of course, bats have feathery wings so that they absorb the "sonar" the bat emits... giving less echo back to it's ears from the wing surfaces.
Um... did I really type that, or is eddie fucking with me???

If it was me... um... I blame the drugs

Wasn't me man, sorry, must be the drugs. I wouldn't have thought of something that creative.

bugfreezer · Post by **bugfreezer** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 5:21 pm

We really need a ROFLMAO smiley now...poor bio!

Post by **bio** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 8:39 am

I checked what I had googled when I typed that.

What I meant to type was: Moths hunted by bats often have soft feathery wings so they don't appear on the bat's "sonar".

I have no idea why I typed what I did. Gotta be the drugs.

Post by **eddiecanuck** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 9:03 am

You know you're only going to be able to use that excuse for a little longer. Once the drugs are gone you'll have to come up with a new excuse.

bugfreezer · Post by **bugfreezer** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 10:24 am

bio wrote:What I meant to type was: Moths hunted by bats often have soft feathery wings so they don't appear on the bat's "sonar".

Hmmm, that bit was new to me - I know that some moths have an "ear" tuned to bat sonar, but was not aware of other stealth technology. What was your source for the stealth fuzz?

Post by **bio** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 10:26 am

It's on this page

Pigman · Post by **Pigman** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 2:18 pm

Some of you at the Lazy-I may know "ZAK" our main network router guy. His son is an intern here and I just found out he is also a bug man, graduated from WSU with the bug major.

He found this thread fasinating and I told him to join in.

Post by **bio** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 4:00 pm

Just make sure he knows that this isn't the typical conversation first.

Heh... usually its a post called "Look at my butt" and a pic of my... um... butt.

Rocketdork · Post by **Rocketdork** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 5:02 pm

its amazing the number of people that are into the insect thing...they just seem to be crawling out of the wood work now...

this guy makes at LEAST 4 that I know of...how weird is that...

bugfreezer · Post by **bugfreezer** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 8:19 pm

They are fun, aren't they! I always thought so.

I had a blast when I was in South Africa in '96-'97. They had all kinds of cool stuff down there. I wish I'd had playtime to explore - this was before I took up entomology.

What really got my goat was when I found out that they discovered a new order of insects (Mantophasmatodea) in S. Africa and Namibia - this is equivalent to finding a new mammal that isn't related to any existing mammal - and I was traipsing around that same part of the world a few years prior to its discovery!

I wanna go back!!!!! <sigh>

Eve · Post by **Eve** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 9:57 pm

Rocketdork wrote:its amazing the number of people that are into the insect thing

Well you can count me right out of that club. I am very firmly, if not vehemently ANTI-bug.

Give me a spider, give me a snake, but anything buggy (especially cockroaches) totally freak me out and make my skin crawl. I can't cope with moths and butterflies either, only from a distance lol.

My dad says that I was like that since I was little, terrified of leaves falling from trees (thinking they were bugs) at the age of 2!