New study sheds light on how mosquitoes wing it

The unique mechanisms involved in mosquito flight have been shared for the first time in a new Oxford University collaboration, which could inform future aerodynamic innovations, including tiny scale flying tech. Much is known about mosquito behaviour but scientists have long had questions about the aerodynamics of how they manage to fly. In the past technology has not been capable of capturing high speed wing movements, but recent science developments have made it possible to track and understand the wing movements of flies. In partnership with the Royal Veterinary College and Chiba University , scientists from Oxford's Department of Zoology analysed the insects' every movement to understand how mosquitoes fly. Well known carriers of diseases, mosquitoes' abnormally long, narrow wings and distinctive flight behaviour set them apart from other insects. Not only that, but when flapped, these wings move back and forth approximately 800 times each second - far faster than any other insect of comparable size. To compensate for these rapid movements, their stroke amplitude (the angle through which the wing sweeps) is less than half that of any other insect measured to date.