In Vivo Time-Resolved Microtomography Reveals the Mechanics of the Blowfly Flight Motor
Figure 4
Three-dimensional surface renderings of five of the direct steering muscles in the low-amplitude (left column) and high-amplitude (right column) wings.
Five of the ten stages of the wingbeat cycle are shown for one individual, starting at the beginning of the downstroke. The times (t) marked on each panel denote the proportion of the time through the wingbeat cycle. The steering muscles are viewed from the inside of the thorax looking out toward the wing hinge, and other parts of the thorax have been removed for clarity. See main text and Figure 6 for labeling of muscles, which follows the same colour scheme. Note the asymmetries in the buckling of the I1 tendon (dark blue) at the start of the stroke. The asymmetries in the movements of the other steering muscle are almost imperceptible in this figure, but they are clearly visible in the accompanying animation of all ten stages of the wingbeat cycle in Movie S2 (view Movie S2 here). The muscles and tendons were segmented manually. Note, however, that the small diameter and fast movement of the tendons leads to occasional data dropout (e.g., I1 tendon at t = 0.6).