Scientists examine the flight of the bark beetle from an aerodynamic perspective 20:24

Scientists have found out what determines the flight characteristics of the mountain pine bark beetle. Reported by the American Institute of Physics.

mountain pine bark beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) is a parasite common in the New World. It is one of the main causes of tree death in the pine forests of North America. For example, the beetle has destroyed thousands of acres of pine forests in British Columbia and Alberta, leaving these areas more vulnerable to wildfires.

Zahra Hadjati and colleagues decided Study this insect for aerodynamics and entomology to better understand its flight. For the aerodynamic model to work, the researchers had to modify it to fit a three-dimensional insect wing instead of the classic teardrop shape of an idealized air profile. The main difference between idealized air profiles and small true blades was the relative effect of air viscosity. It turns out that the structure of the body and wings allows you to estimate the thrust created by the insect.

The authors were able to generalize by examining several insects, each with slightly different wing shapes (including some with wing damage) and different ages and sizes. Thus, it turned out that females are more resistant to flight than males and that young insects fly with less thrust than individuals of other ages.

The authors hope that their findings will provide models for the distribution of bark beetles to control these parasites.

Formerly paleontologists saidwhere live “bagels” live obama 550 million years old.