Unlike other wasp species, the Wood Wasp or Giant Horntail has no clear abdominal segmentation and instead has a long circular body. This is because it’s not strictly a wasp. More accurately a primitive member of the Wasp order ‘Hymenoptera’. Most people assume the large needle like form protruding from the Wood wasp is a stinger. This however is not the case as it is a modified and incredibly long ovipositor (egg laying tube). The common name – ‘Horntail’ is based upon this

Revisiting the topic of biomimicry from my last post, I thought it apt to mention Butterflies wings. Butterflies from the Lepidoptera order are distinctively recognized by their bold, garish array of colour displayed on their wings. This is used as a method of communication enabling sparring, courting, mating and hiding, as well as mimicry to ward off predators. Most species wings have a layer of overlapping scales producing magnificent iridescent colouring. In the 1980’s it

A notable and defining characteristic of earwigs, aside from their massive pincers, is their unexpected wings. Their short front wings create a casing for intricately origami like folded hind wings. These folded wings are semi transparent and paper thin like skin. Hence the insect order name ‘Dermaptera’ meaning skin like. These incredible wings can expand to up to fifteen times their original folded size when in flight, thanks to their protein rich rubbery joints which almos

The dragonfly from the family Odonata has veiny wings which are corrugated, making them robust and inflexible, resulting in a high aerodynamic performance. They may also have favourable inertial pitching movement whilst in flight to give further advanced manoeuvrability, to which all the main stress occurs around the base of the wings. To deal with this pressure, strut like veins interlock the main wing veins, creating a strong bracket like compression resistant structure. #h