67th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics (November 23, 2014 — November 25, 2014)

V0085: Mid-Air Recovery of Falling Dragonflies

Authors

• James Melfi, Cornell University
• Anthony Leonardo, HHMI Janelia Farms
• Z. Jane Wang, Cornell University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/APS.DFD.2014.GFM.V0085

We study dragonflies in free flight, using a combination of measured body and wing kinematics, and computer animation in an attempt to understand how they control different mid-flight maneuvers.  To isolate different maneuvers, we capture dragonflies and drop them in free-fall from different initial conditions using a magnetic tether.  To return to their typical flight orientation, the dragonfly uses a combination of rolling and pitching motions.  The relative amounts of each motion are determined by the initial pitch of the dragonfly as it is released.