Science: The Flight of Insects

As a flying machine, a mosquito is not efficient, but since its weight is low it gets 450 million miles per gallon of nectar, which it uses as fuel. In the Scientific Monthly, Professor Brian Hocking of the University of Alberta tells about his experiments with the flight of insects. He puts his subjects on a "flight mill": a delicate arm that turns round and round, propelled by a buzzing insect cemented to its tip. A photoelectric cell counts the revolutions, and from its records the insect's speed, power and mileage can be computed.

The insects easiest to study in this way...

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