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Insect wings
The large wings of an adult Silkmoth (Actias maenas).
Apart from the vertebrates, insects are the only other group of animals to have successfully evolved flight. The wings are composed of two membranes of the cuticle pressed together and supported by a series of veins. The pattern of veins, the venation, is not haphazard but very regular, though it does show modifications. These are very useful in identification. The wings are more or less triangular in form and certain regions may be recognised:-
Regions of the wing
Illustration of the main regions of the insect wing.
Fore wing
Illustration of the main regions of the insect fore wing.
Hind wing
Illustration of the main regions of the insect hind wing.
The basic pattern of longitudinal veins, the venation, have been shown in a previous article. This pattern may be modified in a variety of ways, such as fusion of veins, loss of veins or even the development of additional ones. Primitively these main veins are connected by a series of cross veins which are seen clearly in fossil forms as well as present day Dragonflies & Damselflies and Mayflies
Dragonfly Wing showing the series of cross-veins
Illustration of the cross veins on a Dragonfly wing.
In most insect orders these cross veins are reduced or absent. Primitively the pairs of wings beat independently of one another. This is rather inefficient, the effectiveness of the wing beat may be increased by the wings acting together. A number of different methods of coupling the wings to achieve this have been developed. The jugal area of the fore-wing is involved in some of these.
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