Gliding Hexapods And The Origins Of Insect Aerial Behaviour

There are two major hypotheses for the evolution of winged flight in insects: wings originated either in tree-living, gliding hexapods as lateral body extensions of the body wall, or wings derived from gills of aquatic forms. Gliding is widespread among vertebrates that live in trees, but to date has not been identified in phylogenetically basal hexapods.



Here we show that arboreal jumping bristletails, a basal hexapod lineage lacking wings, glide to tree trunks in 90% of falls, and that their tail appendages influence aerial manoeuvres and gliding success rates.



This discovery lends support to hypothesized terrestrial origins for insect flight.



Royal Society Journal Biology Letters


Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high-quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of the journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology.


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