Dexterity by Design

Photo courtesy of ipad.iwalls.org

Dragonflies are simply amazing creatures and are, in fact, the ultimate predator.  "Intercepting a moving object requires prediction of its future location. This complex task has been solved by dragonflies, who intercept their prey in midair with a 95% success rate" versus a lion's 25% or a shark's 50%1. For your conveinence find a link to the the NY Times article, Nature’s Drone, Pretty and Deadly, by NATALIE ANGIER . We at (a)biotic constantly strive for inspiration from nature. What better teacher than the incomparable dragonfly. The short clips below are stunning in and of themselves!

University of Glasgow; Jay Iwasaki/Combes Lab, Harvard University

Clockwise, from left: “An Exposition of English Insects” by Moses Harris, published in 1782 with some 50 hand-colored engravings; a blue dasher dragonfly; a Ruby meadowlark dragonfly.

1  Article:  "Eight pairs of descending visual neurons in the dragonfly give wing motor centers accurate population vector of prey direction"  http://www.pnas.org/content/110/2/696.abstract?sid=f4fdddf7-bf52-4ecc-9e7f-1142102e0f8c