Question:
What makes insect wings so special?
Did you know that insects were the first animals to develop the ability to fly? Insect wings have evolved over 400 million years on planet Earth. These structures have developed specific adaptations to help the millions of species of insects to survive and thrive all around the world! Read on for a fun way to let your students discover the science and beauty of insect wings with a Foldscope!
Background:
Insect wings are primarily associated with flight, but they serve many other functions. They offer physical protection, temperature regulation, balance and stabilization, audible modes of communication, and visual recognition. The complexity of the microscopic structures responsible for these physical adaptations can be seen with a Foldscope! Here are a few that you might see in your insects.
Scales:
Butterflies and moths have wings that are covered in millions of scales. The scales, which are found on the top and bottom of the wings, are arranged in layers. This arrangement helps to repel water, regulate temperature, provide camouflage, and make them more aerodynamic.
Hair (AKA - setae):
Many insect wings have hairlike structures called setae. Setae shape and size can range from short projections to long flowing strands. Setae are responsible for navigation, temperature regulation, improved aerodynamics, and body position awareness.
Veins:
The veins in an insect wing are usually visible without a microscope, but are still interesting to view on the microscopic scale. Veins are a continuation of the insect’s circulatory system. In addition to serving as a conduit for hemolymph (insect blood), veins provide structural integrity to the wing during flight. Vein pattern and size are specific to every insect species and can be used for identification purposes.
Color Patterns:
The membrane of some insect wings have pigment cells that provide striking patterns. These designs help insects find a mate, avoid predators, and provide camouflage.
The physical adaptations of insect wings are numerous! Encourage your students to learn about some of the common insects in your environment and the adaptations that help them survive.
Materials/Procedure:
This activity requires you and your students to collect insects ahead of time. It is important to plan ahead to make sure that the wings of the insects have significant structural differences. Asking students to look for insects at their homes and at school can help to increase the variety of wings that your class can study. Do not use living insects to avoid the potential for bites and stings (it is easy to find dead insects in window sills).
- Materials:
- Science notebook
- Pen/pencil
- Foldscope 2.0
- Note: Younger students can do an exploratory version of this activity with the Foldscope Mini
- LED Light Module 2.0
- Lens Kit
- Tweezers
- Slides (glass or blank trading card)
- Clear Stickers
- Insects
Figure 7. Picture of insect wing viewed under a Foldscope 2.0 at 140X magnification plus 5X zoom on phone
- Collect insects (look in window sills, outside on the ground, caught in spiderwebs).
- Choose one of the insects and draw it in your science notebook.
- Use tweezers to remove the wings from the insect and place them on a slide.
- Secure the wings to the slide with a clear sticker.
- Insert the slide into the Foldscope, attach the 50X lens, put the LED light module on the back of the Foldscope, and adjust the focus.
- Note: As you study the insect wings, try using some of the different LED lighting settings like brightfield, dark field, and reflective lighting. Watch this video for instructions.
- Draw the magnified image in your science notebook.
- Repeat the process with the 140X and 340X lenses.
- Choose another insect and repeat the entire process, paying attention to the details that are different between the different wings.
- As a class, point out the adaptations that you observed and explain how they can help the insects to survive.
Were there any adaptations that surprised you? Could you come up with an evidence based explanation for each of the adaptations that you observed?
Insect Wing Artist:
Alan Bur Johnson is an artist who takes inspiration from insect wings, light, and shadow. His abstract sculptures appear to float in the room, but the true nature of the figures are revealed when you look at the shadows they form on the walls. His art, which has been featured around the world, brings attention to the intersection of art and biology. He studies the building up and breaking down of organic structures and represents their biological functions in an aesthetically pleasing way. Can you think of a creative way to represent the insect wings that you studied with your Foldscope?
Extension:
This blog ties together the three dimensional framework of the NGSS. It covers the Disciplinary Core Idea of Life Science. Students will see the Crosscutting Concept of Structure and Function. This activity is also a way for students to deepen their understanding of the Science and Engineering Practice of Engaging In Argument From Evidence.
However, this exploratory activity can go beyond the science classroom. Join forces with:
- a Social Studies teacher to research the economic impact of insects and cultural significance of insects,
- a Math teacher to create graphic representations of the number of insect adaptations you were able to observe,
- an ELA teacher to write a poem that describes insect flight,
- and a related arts teacher to explore the art elements of line, shape, color, and texture through the design of their own original insect wing!
Connect:
Share your observations, discoveries, pictures, and interdisciplinary extension activities with the Foldscope community. Submitting your insect wing Foldscope images to the Microcosmos will help build up a strong scientific database that can help support new and innovative scientific research!
Sources:
Insect Evolution:https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2014/november/intricacies-insect-evolution-revealed.html
Number of Insect Species:https://www.si.edu/spotlight/buginfo/bugnos
Insect Wing Adaptations:https://genent.cals.ncsu.edu/bug-bytes/thorax/wings-2/#:~:text=Wings%20serve%20not%20only%20as,and%20sexual%20contact%20(Lepidoptera).
Hair (Setae):http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjan09/rd-hairs.html
Veins:https://genent.cals.ncsu.edu/bug-bytes/thorax/wings-2/
Color Patterns:https://www.patellab.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Parchem2007A.pdf
Alan Bur Johnson
https://luxesource.com/works-inspired-wings-planes-insects-alan-bur-johnson/
https://www.alanburjohnson.com/info
https://lisasettegallery.com/artist/alan-bur-johnson/
