[NatureNS] Featherwing Beetle

Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2007 12:18:59 -0300
From: David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com>
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c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca wrote:

> Hi Dave et al.!
>
> On 20-Oct-07, at 4:36 PM, David & Alison Webster wrote:
>
>
>> Dear All,            Oct 20, 2007
>>
>>    I found  Featherwing Beetles (Ptiliidae; about 1-mm long; new to 
>> me) on Oct 11 and this being, after the warm rain, a time when things 
>> might be active I looked for and found several more today.
>>
>
> Fabulous beetles aren't they? ;-> What habitat are you finding them in?
>
 Hi Chris & All,            Oct 20, 2007
    Thanks for the background comments. I found these in the compost heap.

>>    By the looks of it, this beetle should be easily able to float on 
>> a rising column of warm air and I wonder if in fact they can do this.
>>
>
> We actually discuss this in our AME chapter, since some authors (i.e. 
> Pringle 1957) have suggested that the beetles move around through 
> passive flotation in the manner of dandelion seeds. However, this is 
> an erroneous notion, as one can easily observe directed flight 
> behavior in various situations, for instance in searching for their 
> ephemeral breeding sites such as dung, compost, and decomposing fungi. 
> Despite their tiny size, and unusual wings, they can fly with the same 
> (or even better) facility as many other species of beetles.
>
    But note that ability for directed flight does not prove inability 
to float on rising air (passive flotation); hawks and the like.  

    Calculating the terminal velocity of a spherical body is, thanks to 
Stokes, is a piece of cake. But non-spherical is another matter and is 
perhaps fodder for a mid-winter project/discussion as some on the list 
may know how to do this.
    

Yt, DW

>
> Cheers!
>
>
> Chris
>
> _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.
>
> Christopher Majka - Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History
>
> 1747 Summer Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada   B3H 3A6
>
> (902) 424-6435   Email < c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca 
> <mailto:c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca> >
>
> _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.
>
>


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