Honeybees modify flight trajectories in turbulent wind
In windy conditions, the air is turbulent. The strong and intermittent velocity variations of turbulence are invisible to flying animals. Nevertheless, flying animals, not much larger than the smallest scales of turbulence, manage to maneuver these highly fluctuating conditions quite well. Here we q...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2022-01-01
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| Series: | New Journal of Physics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac9cc4 |
| _version_ | 1797748781110788096 |
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| author | Bardia Hejazi Christian Küchler Gholamhossein Bagheri Eberhard Bodenschatz |
| author_facet | Bardia Hejazi Christian Küchler Gholamhossein Bagheri Eberhard Bodenschatz |
| author_sort | Bardia Hejazi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In windy conditions, the air is turbulent. The strong and intermittent velocity variations of turbulence are invisible to flying animals. Nevertheless, flying animals, not much larger than the smallest scales of turbulence, manage to maneuver these highly fluctuating conditions quite well. Here we quantify honeybee flight with time-resolved three-dimensional tracking in calm conditions and controlled turbulent winds. We find that honeybee mean speed and acceleration are only weakly correlated with the strength of turbulence. In flight, honeybees accelerate slowly and decelerate rapidly, i.e., they break suddenly during turns and then accelerate again. While this behavior is observed in both calm and turbulent conditions, it is increasingly dominant under turbulent conditions where short straight trajectories are broken by turns and increased maneuvering. This flight-crash behavior is reminiscent of turbulence itself. Our observations may help the development of flight strategies for miniature flying robotics under turbulent conditions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:10:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a4deaa0a9dbb4a3a88ab024fb6dc141d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1367-2630 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:10:42Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | New Journal of Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-a4deaa0a9dbb4a3a88ab024fb6dc141d2023-08-09T14:09:48ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302022-01-01241111301010.1088/1367-2630/ac9cc4Honeybees modify flight trajectories in turbulent windBardia Hejazi0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9262-128XChristian Küchler1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1209-0440Gholamhossein Bagheri2Eberhard Bodenschatz3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2901-0144Laboratory for Fluid Physics, Pattern Formation, and Biocomplexity, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) , 37077 Göttingen, Germany; Max Planck University of Twente Center for Complex Fluid Dynamics , MPI-DS, 37077 Göttingen, GermanyLaboratory for Fluid Physics, Pattern Formation, and Biocomplexity, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) , 37077 Göttingen, Germany; Max Planck University of Twente Center for Complex Fluid Dynamics , MPI-DS, 37077 Göttingen, GermanyLaboratory for Fluid Physics, Pattern Formation, and Biocomplexity, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) , 37077 Göttingen, Germany; Max Planck University of Twente Center for Complex Fluid Dynamics , MPI-DS, 37077 Göttingen, GermanyLaboratory for Fluid Physics, Pattern Formation, and Biocomplexity, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) , 37077 Göttingen, Germany; Max Planck University of Twente Center for Complex Fluid Dynamics , MPI-DS, 37077 Göttingen, Germany; Institute for Dynamics of Complex Systems, University of Göttingen , 37077 Göttingen, Germany; Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics and Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University , 14853 Ithaca, NY, United States of AmericaIn windy conditions, the air is turbulent. The strong and intermittent velocity variations of turbulence are invisible to flying animals. Nevertheless, flying animals, not much larger than the smallest scales of turbulence, manage to maneuver these highly fluctuating conditions quite well. Here we quantify honeybee flight with time-resolved three-dimensional tracking in calm conditions and controlled turbulent winds. We find that honeybee mean speed and acceleration are only weakly correlated with the strength of turbulence. In flight, honeybees accelerate slowly and decelerate rapidly, i.e., they break suddenly during turns and then accelerate again. While this behavior is observed in both calm and turbulent conditions, it is increasingly dominant under turbulent conditions where short straight trajectories are broken by turns and increased maneuvering. This flight-crash behavior is reminiscent of turbulence itself. Our observations may help the development of flight strategies for miniature flying robotics under turbulent conditions.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac9cc4insect flightbee flightturbulencestatistics |
| spellingShingle | Bardia Hejazi Christian Küchler Gholamhossein Bagheri Eberhard Bodenschatz Honeybees modify flight trajectories in turbulent wind New Journal of Physics insect flight bee flight turbulence statistics |
| title | Honeybees modify flight trajectories in turbulent wind |
| title_full | Honeybees modify flight trajectories in turbulent wind |
| title_fullStr | Honeybees modify flight trajectories in turbulent wind |
| title_full_unstemmed | Honeybees modify flight trajectories in turbulent wind |
| title_short | Honeybees modify flight trajectories in turbulent wind |
| title_sort | honeybees modify flight trajectories in turbulent wind |
| topic | insect flight bee flight turbulence statistics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac9cc4 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bardiahejazi honeybeesmodifyflighttrajectoriesinturbulentwind AT christiankuchler honeybeesmodifyflighttrajectoriesinturbulentwind AT gholamhosseinbagheri honeybeesmodifyflighttrajectoriesinturbulentwind AT eberhardbodenschatz honeybeesmodifyflighttrajectoriesinturbulentwind |