Winner of the 2010 Earth Award
  • Browse
Sign In · Join

History:...Glands excrete excess salt: mangrove...Pressure sucks moisture from soil: desert plants...Root systems control erosion: vascular plants

Thank a Genius
Created: 2012-01-12
Updated: 2012-01-12

Tubes help cool muscles, transport gases: insects


Loading...

Slide_show_arrows  1 of 1 Black fly / Mark span / LicenseCC-by-sa - Attribution Share Alike

Insects deliver oxygen to flight muscles and cool the muscles via a tracheal system.

Biomimicry Taxonomy
 
Taxonomy_1 Maintain physical integrity >
Taxonomy_2 Protect from abiotic factors >
Taxonomy_3 Temperature
Biomimetic Application Ideas
 
  • Cooling systems for electronics, machinery
  • More efficient HVAC systems

> Visit strategy page

[Collapse all sections] Summary
"The flight of flies, too, requires high levels of energy. There is also a need for large volumes of oxygen in order to burn this energy. The need for great amounts of oxygen is satisfied by an extraordinary respiratory system lodged within the bodies of flies and other insects.

"The fly's need of oxygen is so high that there is no time to wait for the oxygen to be delivered to the body cells by the blood. To deal with this problem, there is a very special system. The air tubes in the insect's body carry the air to different parts of the fly's body. Just like the circulatory system in the body, there is an intricate and complex network of tubes (called the tracheal system) that delivers oxygen-containing air to every cell of the body.

"Thanks to this system, the cells that make up the flight muscles take oxygen directly from these tubes. This system also helps to cool down the muscles which function at such high rates as 1000 cycles per second." (Yahya 2002: 34)
About the inspiring organism
Med_1000pxinsect_anatomy_diagram.svg Diptera
Diptera


Organism/taxonomy data provided by:
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist
Bioinspired products and application ideas

Application Ideas: Cooling systems for electronics, machinery; more efficient HVAC systems.

Industrial Sector(s) interested in this strategy: Electronics, manufacturing, buildings

References
Harun Yahya. 2002. Design in Nature. London: Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd. 180 p.
Google>>  Scirus>>

Content tools

Curator of this page

Are you an expert on this topic? Apply to be a curator >



Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License.

Privacy | Terms of Use | Donate | Sitemap | Feedback

© 2008-2012 The Biomimicry Institute