Optimal kinematics of the bee tongue for viscous fluid transport

Wang, Bo; Liu, Xuhan; Guowei, Tang; Wu, Jianing; Yang, Yunqiang

doi:10.1039/d2sm00832g

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…During protraction of the tongue into the nectar, the tongue hairs lie on the glossa [11]. After full immersion in the nectar pool, the bee retracts the tongue with the tongue hairs deploying so that the distance between the tip of the hairs and the glossa, d(t), increases [12]. When the tongue retracts from the nectar at t = T R = constant (about 0.1-0.15 s), the distance between the tip of the hairs and the glossa is thus d(T R ), and the bee loads the nectar into the mouthparts for further swallowing [13][14][15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of tongue hair flexural deformation on viscous fluid transport by bees

Wang¹,

Yang²,

Zhang³

et al. 2022

Bioinspir. Biomim.

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A bee tongue is coated in dynamic hairs that gradually unfold to entrain the viscid nectar, during which hairs inevitably deflect caused by the fluid drag. The hair deflection induced decline in nectar capture rate may be a coupled elastoviscous problem, which remains poorly understood. Here we employed the geometric beam theory coupling with the effective viscous force to derive a dynamic model for a rotary tongue hair deflection in a viscous fluid. Considering deflection of the tongue hair, we rationalized the nectar capture rate by taking the Bombus as a model system. When the nectar concentration increases from 20% to 70%, the nectar capture rate declines by 87%, indicating that hair erection is more severely impeded in thicker nectar. Based on this model, we predicted an optimal hair length by which the bee can reach the maximum nectar capture rate. This work may provide a new theoretical framework for quantifying viscous liquid transport by hairy surfaces and shed light on design methodologies for fluid transport devices using hairy beds.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of tongue hair flexural deformation on viscous fluid transport by bees

Wang¹,

Yang²,

Zhang³

et al. 2022

Bioinspir. Biomim.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…But they remained in the dark as to the strategies honeybees use to maximize nectar intake. Now Jianing Wu at Sun Yat-sen University, China, and colleagues have mathematically and experimentally studied how a bee's tongue-retraction time impacts its energy intake rate [1]. The How quickly a bee retracts its tongue determines how well it can capture honey.…”

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confidence: 99%