Bumblebee wing hamuli

[Charles Krebs]

I've posted wing hamuli of various Hymenoptera several times in the past, but it bothered me that the shots I have posted never provided a good visual "perspective" as to the actual location of these "hooks"... the earlier shots were at too high a magnification. So I decided to do this more "overall" lower magnification shot of the front portion of the rear wing of a bumblebee. This is looking down at the top of the wing. The hamuli curve upward and back in a slight spiral manner. In use they will hook onto the trailing edge of the front wing so that the wings are coupled in flight.



And a cross-eyed stereo:



The 1024 pixel limit makes the stereo effect a little subdued in this case. But if you can "see" cross-eyed stereos and have not already seen it, here is a much more close-up stereo pair posted last year that can provide a very good idea of their shape:
http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13848
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[Mitch640]

Amazing. The cross-eyed stereo is amazing. The hills and valley's of the wing fold just jump out. Is the wing unhooked every time it land and stops using them?

Beautiful work.

[NikonUser]

Yes, excellent images.
In the primitive insects the wings tend to beat out of phase, e.g., in dragonflies. In the advanced groups the wings beat together.
This requires that the fore- and hind-wings are somehow coupled together so as to function as a single unit as in Charles' images (I wonder why evolution has not produced a single insect wing). In the Lepidoptera (butterflies & moths) there are 3 types of wing-coupling mechanisms which are useful for showing phylogenetic relationships.
The 3 types are: jugal, frenulo-retinacular, and amplexiform. Perhaps a good winter project to photograph these, if I can find examples.
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NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

[Babylonia]

I also have looked to the other links with wings images.
Very remarkable how these "hook" functions are developed in nature. Also these tiny "needles" at the surface of the wings. Thanks for sharing these images.
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Greetings from Holland

[RogelioMoreno]

Beautiful image.

Rogelio

[arturoag75]

Fantastic
Arturo
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