2024/07/08 by Lisa A. Treidel, Kevin D. Deem, Mary K. Salcedo +18 · 1 voice
Engineering · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Biomimetic flight and propulsion mechanisms #Animal Behavior and Reproduction #Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
paper · doi:10.1093/icb/icae106
openalex publication_date 2024/07/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
The evolution of flight in an early winged insect ancestral lineage is recognized as a key adaptation explaining the unparalleled success and diversification of insects. Subsequent transitions and modifications to flight machinery, including secondary reductions and losses, also play a central role in shaping the impacts of insects on broadscale geographic and ecological processes and patterns in the present and future. Given the importance of insect flight, there has been a centuries-long history of research and debate on the evolutionary origins and biological mechanisms of flight. Here, we revisit this history from an interdisciplinary perspective, discussing recent discoveries regarding the developmental origins, physiology, biomechanics, and neurobiology and sensory control of flight in a diverse set of insect models. We also identify major outstanding questions yet to be addressed and provide recommendations for overcoming current methodological challenges faced when studying insect flight, which will allow the field to continue to move forward in new and exciting directions. By integrating mechanistic work into ecological and evolutionary contexts, we hope that this synthesis promotes and stimulates new interdisciplinary research efforts necessary to close the many existing gaps about the causes and consequences of insect flight evolution.