Swallowtails in Flight

Hmmm there seems to be some problem with the sound (it skips at about 40 something seconds) but otherwise check out this latest video I made of my latest butterfly. Also, I found this rather cool video of a swallowtail butterfly in flight done in slow motion. Different species, however as this is a Jakou-Ageha (Byasa Alcinous) from Japan.



"Like many other members of the insect world, the lift generated by butterflies is more than what can be accounted for by steady-state, non-transitory aerodynamics. Studies using Vanessa atalanta in a windtunnel show that they use a wide variety of aerodynamic mechanisms to generate force. These include wake capture, vortices at the wing edge, rotational mechanisms and Weis-Fogh 'clap-and-fling' mechanisms. The butterflies were also able to change from one mode to another rapidly"