Author: Emily Conover / Source: Science News
The dainty veins gracing the wings of dragonflies and other insects are like fingerprints: Each wing displays a distinct pattern.
A randomized mathematical process may help explain how certain thin filaments, called secondary veins, form these complex patterns, a new study finds.Insect wings consist of two types of veins, both of which provide structural support (SN: 6/24/17, p. 5). Primary veins, which tend to be long and relatively straight, are found in the same locations on the wings of each member of a species. But the smaller, secondary veins appear in slightly different places on every wing.
Together, these two types of veins section off the wing into a multitude of tiny pieces, like bits of a stained-glass window. Scientists characterized 468 wings from 232 species by calculating the area of each tiny section, and quantifying whether it was circular or elongated.
Going round
In a mathematical simulation, scientists recreated the shapes of…
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