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Morphological constraints in hymenopteran forewings limit flight efficiency optimization.

Iman Fadel1, Pablo S Milla Carmona1, Yuming Liu1

  • 1School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.

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|July 29, 2025
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Insect wing shapes in Hymenoptera (sawflies, wasps, bees, ants) are not optimized for flight. Instead, evolutionary allometry and function together constrain hymenopteran forewing morphology.

Keywords:
Hymenopteraelliptical Fourier analysisfinite element analysismorphometricsoptimalityperformance landscapes

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Insect morphology
  • Biomechanics

Background:

  • Wing evolution is key to insect diversification, yet the drivers of insect wing shape disparity remain unclear.
  • Understanding hymenopteran (sawflies, wasps, bees, ants) forewing morphology is crucial for deciphering flight evolution.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Investigate the factors influencing forewing morphological disparity in the four major hymenopteran clades.
  • Analyze the relationship between theoretical wing shapes, flight performance, and empirical wing morphologies.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a theoretical morphospace approach with elliptical Fourier analysis to quantify 298 insect forewings.
  • Generated 494 theoretical wing forms and analyzed them for flight performance metrics (drag reduction, lift, breakage resistance).
  • Employed phylomorphospace analysis and regression to assess convergence, phylogenetic signal, and environmental influences.

Main Results:

  • Theoretical wings optimized for flight featured larger, rounder apical tips, balancing drag, lift, and resistance.
  • Empirical hymenopteran forewings occupy a suboptimal morphospace region with moderate flight performance.
  • Wing shape convergence was high across Hymenoptera, with a weak phylogenetic signal and no significant environmental correlations.

Conclusions:

  • Hymenopteran forewing morphologies are not optimized for flight performance.
  • Evolutionary allometry and functional constraints interact to shape hymenopteran wing variation.
  • Future research should explore the interplay of allometry and function in insect wing evolution.