Blood flow inside the wings of live mosquitoes

Mar 21, 2015 • 8:08 AM UTC

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140x Magnification

Microorganisms

Manu Prakash

I am a faculty at Stanford and run the Prakash Lab at Department of Bioengineering at Stanford University. Foldscope community is at the heart of our Frugal Science movement - and I can not tell you how proud I am of this community and grassroots movement. Find our work here: http://prakashlab.stanford.edu

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For a long while; I have been wanting to image the flow inside the wing veins of insects; last night I got my first chance.
https://vine.co/v/OYvJFiPdZaT
Watch along the veins and you will actually notice single cells dragged in the veins. They appear as blinking signals since the cells must be tumbling in flow.
So you might ask; why does an insect need blood (hemolymph) flow in wings. Actually; wings are live cells (epithelium) and require constant nourishment just like any other part of the body. Thus veins not only structurally support wings; they also provide everything the cells would need to stay alive.
Also notice how the direction of flow is varied all along the wing structure. This is essentially plumbing which makes Mosquitos work.
Cheers
Manu