Agenda

Insects are, by far, the most successful animals in the history of our planet. Although they first appeared during the Ordovician period, approximately 450–500 million years ago, their remarkable diversification began much later, around 300–350 million years ago, following the evolution of flight, with a further major radiation accompanying their co-evolution with flowering plants. Insect flight is particularly compelling because it spans nearly three orders of magnitude in body size and unfolds on timescales too fast to resolve without sophisticated experimental tools. As a result, the insect neuromuscular system operates close to its physiological and mechanical limits, and successful flight depends on a tight coupling between the physics and physiology of the flight apparatus. Equally critical is the precise control of wing motion by the nervous system, which acquires, processes, and acts on sensory information at exceptionally high speeds. How do insect wings generate and modulate aerodynamic forces to enable fast and precise flight? How are these forces shaped by the musculoskeletal system, and how is the coordinated activity of flight muscles orchestrated by neural circuits? These are the questions addressed in my laboratory, and they will form the focus of this seminar.