ArticleJournal of the Royal Society, Interface2021
Butterflies fly using efficient propulsive clap mechanism owing to flexible wings.
Article in Journal of the Royal Society, Interface, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Conversion efficiency of flight power is low, but increases with flight speed in the migratory batProceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Flight energetics of barn swallows across speeds: high aerodynamic efficiency, but low energy conversion efficiency.The Journal of experimental biology · 2026Article
- Nightjars trade off cruising speed efficiency for hovering capabilities and link upstroke thrust production with restricted wing folding.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- Butterfly Clap-Fling Flight Mechanisms Observed by Schlieren Imaging for the Design of Bio-Inspired Micro Air Vehicles.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- A Fixed-End Beam-Cantilever Piezoelectric MEMS Speaker with Flexible Supporting Layer.Micromachines · 2026Article
- Flapping Foil-Based Propulsion and Power Generation: A Comprehensive Review.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Passive mechanisms in flying insects and applications in bio-inspired flapping-wing micro air vehicles.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Review
- Kinematic and Aerodynamic Analysis of aBiomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Aerodynamic efficiency explains flapping strategies used by birds.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Article
- Pervasive mimicry in flight behavior among aposematic butterflies.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Quantifying the Aerodynamic Power Required for Flight and Testing for Adaptive Wind Drift in Passion-Vine ButterfliesInsects · 2023Article
- Revisiting the flight dynamics of take-off of a butterfly: experiments and CFD simulations for a cabbage white butterfly.Biology open · 2022Article
- Downstroke and upstroke conflict during banked turns in butterflies.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2021Article
- A critical review on microbial carbonate precipitation via denitrification process in building materials.Bioengineered · 2021Review
- A semi-empirical model of the aerodynamics of manoeuvring insect flight.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Butterflies look like no other flying animal, with unusually short, broad and large wings relative to their body size. Previous studies have suggested butterflies use several unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms to boost force production with upstroke wing clap being a prominent feature. When the wings clap together at the end of upstroke the air between the wings is pressed out, creating a jet, pushing the animal in the opposite direction. Although viewed, for the last 50 years, as a crucial mechanism in insect flight, quantitative aerodynamic measurements of the clap in freely flying animals are lacking. Using quantitative flow measurements behind freely flying butterflies during take-off and a mechanical clapper, we provide aerodynamic performance estimates for the wing clap. We show that flexible butterfly wings, forming a cupped shape during the upstroke and clap, thrust the butterfly forwards, while the downstroke is used for weight support. We further show that flexible wings dramatically increase the useful impulse (+22%) and efficiency (+28%) of the clap compared to rigid wings. Combined, our results suggest butterflies evolved a highly effective clap, which provides a mechanistic hypothesis for their unique wing morphology. Furthermore, our findings could aid the design of man-made flapping drones, boosting propulsive performance.
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