RELATION OF WING SURFACE TO WEIGHT. 



By K. VON Leni)KNI'ELI).« 



Successive? iiivostijintors, myself ainoiiy- tlieiii, have studied the 

 comparative relation between the weight and the dimensions of fly- 

 ing animals. Avith special reference to the extent of wing surface. 

 Some hundred species of bats, birds, and flying insects have been 

 examined in this way, the results of these researches being given 

 in the following table, in which the animals are arranged according 

 to weight of bodv. 



Animal. 



Wing 

 Wing sur- j surface 

 face. to 1 gram 

 weight. 



Albatross (Diomeden exulans). 



Bustard {Otis tarda) 



Sea eagle ( Halia'tus albicilln) 



Stork (Ciconia alba) 



Flying fox ( Pfpropus edulis) 



Pheasant ( Plinsia nus colchiciis) 



Herring gull {Lartts argentatiis) 



Crow ( Corvus comix) 



Partridge iPerdix cinerea) 



Dove, pigeon ( Coltimba livid) 



Sparrow hawk (Falco tinniinculus) 



Laughing gull (Lams ridibundiis) 



Thrush (Turdus pilaris) 



Swift (Cypselus apus) 



Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 



Swallow (Hirtmdo rustica) ,. 



Titmouse (Pariis major) 



Small bat ( Vespertilio pipistrellus) 



Sphinx moth (Sphiux ligustri) 



Flatbellied dragonfly (Libellula depressa) 



Bumblebee ( Bonihiis pratoriim) 



Swallowtailed butterfly (Papilio podalirius) . 



Maiden dragonfly (Calopteryx virgo) — 



Cabbage butterfly (Pieris brassicce) 



Honeybee (Apis mellifiva) - 



House fly (Musca domestica) 



Gnat (Culex pipiens) 



293 

 260 

 197 

 100 

 33.5 

 28 

 18 



14.5 

 3.7 

 1.92 

 .6 

 .44 

 .34 

 .2 

 .08 

 .074 

 .01 

 .003 



680 



662 



186 



144 



76 



110 



62 



50 



18.64 



13.3 



1.03 



11.2 



13.94 



9.28 



.39 



.18 



.3 



Sq. mm. 



67 



62 



160 



199 



118 



88 



230 



216 



105 



207 



261 



336 



186 



430 



200 



611 



427 



1,351 



971 



2,216 



234 



3,294 



6.970 



11,600 



528 



1,800 



10,000 



It is seen from the foregoing table that the relation of the extent 

 of wing surface to the weight of body is not uniform, as might have 

 been expected, but exceedingly varial)le For instance, to 1 gram of 

 weight the bustard has 62 mm^ of wing surface, while the cabbage but- 



« Translated from Naturwissenschaftliche Wochenschrift, November 20, 1904. 



127 



