Folding vs. Flying
ladybug tricks
“Hindwings in ladybird beetles successfully achieve compatibility between the deformability (instability) required for wing folding and strength property (stability) required for flying.”
~Tokyo scientific investigation
Sometimes it becomes necessary to hide your wings and rest. And sometimes you can fly. Sometimes you need deformability — to unmake your previous efforts, roll it all back, start over. Sometimes you need to self-inflate, test out the strength of a translucent, flimsy-looking thing, and rely on the lofting support of so much invisible air. You follow me?
“Stability and instability cannot be incompatible,” insists the lovely ladybug as she unfolds her wings. Then she buzzes off leaving us to ponder a quote from Sir Isaac Newton: No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess.
Now, where can I get a darling little red and black polka dot case to keep my wings in when I need to fold them up?
