Stable swimming by diagonal phase synchrony in arthropods
Autor: | David Barr, Bruce P. Smith |
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Rok vydání: | 1980 |
Předmět: | |
Zdroj: | Canadian Journal of Zoology. 58:782-795 |
ISSN: | 1480-3283 0008-4301 |
Popis: | The aquatic mite, Limnochares americana Ldbld., in common with several types of insects which are also secondary invaders of fresh water, can swim only by stroking the legs on opposite sides of successive segments in phase (diagonal phase synchrony). A planar model developed to analyse the distribution of forces generated during this type of swimming demonstrates that there is a substantial potential for lateral instability (yaw) inherent in the locomotory pattern. The model also suggests morphological adaptations that could minimize the instability. Substitution of measured variables for L. americana and for the beetle Hydrophilus piceus in the model indicate that, consistent with observations, the mite has been considerably more successful than the beetle in minimizing lateral instability. It is concluded that diagonal phase synchrony represents an ancestral coordination pattern which is less efficient than the more derived method of coordination by transverse phase synchrony. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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