Geometric analysis of proportion and movement of the wings of the bee, the Mosquito and the Butterfly

Abstract

In this work, we present the research carried out at the Autonomous Metropolitan University Campus Cuajimalpa in México City, with the objective of studying if there is a relationship between different types of insect wings. In this project, we work with the European bee that belongs to the Apidae family, the common house mosquito of the Culicidae family and a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. We find, using the geometric Morphometrics technique, the numerical values of the “X” and “Y” coordinates of the points in space and we model the solid. We built three prototypes in 3D printing, and made three virtual models with their respective stress analysis perform and movement simulation. For the physical prototypes, we used a 4mm tick ABS plastic, and a stainless-steel hook-shaped wire with of 2 mm of diameter was placed in the center of the wing’s heavier parts as an axis. In addition, to perform the wing movement simulation and the stress analysis three proposals were made: (1) the wing without structure, (2) the wing with a straight structure and (3) the wing with the hook structure. From this research, the hypothesis of our project arises: The insect wing simulation differ if an axis passes through the center of the heavier parts of the wing. We concluded that there was less displacement and deformation of the wings of the insects when we performed the simulations using a hook-shaped structure. Since the hookshaped structure allowed both the membranes and the veins to move at the same time, allowing the less heavy parts to move freely, thus creating a more realistic simulation.