The flight of very small insects

Abstract

Experimental work on the flight of insects has in general confirmed the view that the wing of an insect in flight acts as an aerofoil'. However, there are available aerodynamical results" which indicate the existence of a lower limit to the size of an insect wing which can act effectively as an aerofoil. This proves to be near the observed limit of known wings of normal shape, though the structure of certain very small wings indicates a different mechanism of flight.