The evolution of insect swarms from XNUMX million years ago

Chapter 121: In one day, an insect rises with the wind

Although Newton hadn't been born yet, and it didn't matter whether the coffin board could be pressed or not, the basic laws of physics still had to be followed.

At least in the real world view, if a living being wants to overcome gravity and fly into the sky, not to mention some evil methods such as storing hydrogen in the body, it must at least have wings - regardless of whether it is a membrane wing, a feather wing or a flesh wing, it must be a wide and Flat, structure that can create lift.

There are two ways to grow wings, one is the method of insects, and the other is the method of all other creatures that can independently perform powered flight.

The reason why insects grow wings is listed separately because no one knows how those two pairs of wings grow.

It is said that when the insect larvae were swimming in the water, they extended the external gill structures out of the water and used them as sails to propel their bodies forward. Over time, they evolved into primitive wings.

It is also said that early arboreal insects used the armor plates extending from the sides of their bodies to glide from high to low. Over time, they evolved the ability to fly actively.

But no matter what, one thing is certain, that is, insect wings grow out of thin air, without sacrificing any of the original body structure, or in other words, they just use the remnants of degradation.

In this regard, Lin Yi said that if he could not learn from it, the way other vertebrates evolved wings in later generations would be more suitable for him now.

Among vertebrates, there are also those who study insects and want to use their wings for free. From the sky-tailed lizards of the Permian to the flying lizards and flying squirrels of Lin Yi's later generations, they have been going back and forth for more than 200 million years.

However, because there are no muscles attached to other strange parts, after struggling for so long, they have not evolved the ability to actively fly, and can only passively glide without power.

Only a species called Longisquama may have achieved a certain degree of powered flight by using the seven pairs of specially shaped feathery scales on its back. However, even if it had the ability to fly autonomously, it was probably not very good and did not last long.

The correct way to open it is to "sacrifice" a pair of appendages, evolve them into wings, and use the original muscle system on the appendages to push the wings to flap, driving the body to fly into the sky.

Although the original vertebrates were still not very enlightened. For example, the Triassic Salovesaurus sacrificed a pair of hind limbs and abruptly evolved into a tailless delta wing + duck-like layout, but it turns out that flapping Wing Flying is just seeking death by playing this layout.

Later, pterosaurs, birds, and bats, the three major groups of vertebrates that truly realized powered flight, all "sacrificed" a pair of forelimbs and evolved them into wings.

However, to Lin Yi, it didn't matter whether it was the forelimbs or the hindlimbs. The reason was very simple. The appendages of horseshoe crabs were all born under the cephalothorax, and in terms of position, they were all forelimbs.

It doesn't matter which leg it is. Anyway, with the relevant gene sequence from the segmental development of the large appendage class Hexanthus, Lin Yi can turn the individual into a species of the Myriapod subphylum if he wants. It's not bad. Those two legs.

After thinking for a while, Lin Yi planned to "sacrifice" two pairs of appendages and evolve two pairs of wings like insects to better propel the body for flight.

The main template is an improvement from the gene template of the horseshoe crab of the order Limulus suborder, so its structure is not suitable as a source of gene template for the flight level in all aspects.

Therefore, Lin Yi plans to use a newly discovered species of horseshoe crab in the Silurian period and extract its gene sequence, the model species of the entire subclass Limulus, as the source of the gene sequence for a new template.

In a sense, swimming in water and flying in the air have something in common, both require a streamlined appearance.

The shape of the paddle-footed horseshoe crab is very streamlined, and they have no protruding appendages, except for a pair of flat paddling feet. Taken together, they are very suitable for transformation into the appearance of flying creatures.

Among the plate-footed horseshoe crabs, many can be translated as "xx-winged horseshoe crabs", indicating that the structure of the paddling feet is originally very close to wings. Therefore, Lin Yi first installed two pairs of additional paddling legs at the body segments near the middle of the body as the base structure of the wings.

Of course, if you want its structure to successfully support its body in flying, certain modifications are needed. First, increase the size of the paddling feet so that the wingspan of the first pair of wings is at least 1.5 times the length of the body, while the second pair is slightly shorter, similar to the length of the body.

In his imagination, the first pair of wings does not flap and serves to provide lift. Therefore, Lin Yi uses a relatively strong mixture of chitin and calcium as the skeleton, and the rest is composed of horn with moderate strength and weight.

In order to provide as much lift as possible, Lin Yi made the cross-sectional structure of the wing convex at the top and flat at the bottom, similar to the shape of the cross-section of later aircraft wings, so as to obtain greater lift by taking advantage of the difference in air velocity between the upper and lower air.

The second pair of wings is the structure that mainly provides thrust.

This pair of wings was designed by Lin Yi to be as light and thin as possible. The skeleton is composed of horn, while the rest is composed of a nearly leathery exoskeleton structure unique to plate-footed horseshoe crabs.

The skeleton, that is, the inner shell, is designed to have a structure similar to the wing veins of later generations of insects, taking into account both weight reduction and strength as much as possible. At the end of the wings, two micro-weight counterweights similar to the "wing mole" structure of later generations of insects are installed. block to facilitate better wing flapping.

In terms of muscles, it is also a combination of a two-layer structure of hydraulic muscles and fibrous muscles, which supports the rapid and large fanning of the hind wings.

At the same time, other parts of the body are reduced in weight as much as possible.

In order to reduce weight as much as possible, Lin Yirang's new-grade exoskeleton is entirely made of leather, and even the inner shell is composed of a considerable part of the hollow structure.

At the same time, its body also has several sac-like structures similar to the Gnacang structure, but its function is not to accommodate micro-grades, but is similar to the air sac system of later generations of birds. Its function is very simple, and it also reduces weight.

Of course, Lin Yi doesn't really need the auxiliary breathing effect provided by the air bag structure.

Due to the special characteristics of the improved respiratory system, the gas is inhaled from the front, passes through the book gills - at this time, it should be said to be the book lungs, and is discharged to the rear. There is no need to exhale, but it can be continuously inhaled and discharged backward. airflow.

Like the water jet propulsion system in the water, this breathing system also has a small boosting effect - although it is almost negligible.

After solving other structural problems, Lin Yi simply named this grade Flying Detection Flying Falcon, and then started preliminary production.

After a while, when the first flying scout was born from the mother nest, it slowly surfaced.

Feeling the signals returned by the new individual's senses, the long-awaited line slowly emerged in Lin Yi's consciousness:

"Wuhu, take off!"

(End of this chapter)