"A-Z" INDEX & SEARCH

Wing Venation Measurement
and other wing Morphometry

Forewing Length... Measuring the length of the wing gives a simple, but not infallible guide. The maximum possible distance should be measured for consistency.


The enlarged drawing at right is of the purple rectangle shown on the smaller overall sketch above.

	The measuring tool is set so that the horizontal line passes through the extreme tips of the radial cell with the perpendicular passing through the junction of the "Cubital III Cell" and the "Radial Cell". The offset of point "D" is measured using the angular gradations on the tool. The particular example shown here is a positive value.

These measurements can be taken using a 35 mm slide projector to project the images of mounted wings onto a white wall. It is Important that the projector is arranged so that the beam is aligned perpendicular to the wall in both the horizontal and vertical planes, otherwise optical distortion will degrade the accuracy of results.

Several computer programs have now been prepared so that the slides will go into a 35 mm slide adaptor on a scanner. Enabling the images to be read and the results printed out automatically. There is a LINUX version available on the Downloads page. Any other Open Source software for beekeeping measurements will also be provided as it is released.

A description of how to prepare and mount the wings is given in a page titled Wing Mounting.

Forewing Length... Measuring the length of the wing gives a simple, but not infallible guide.

The maximum possible distance should be measured for consistency.

Cubital Index... We can measure the ratio of two of the wing vein segments to obtain this:-

The enlarged drawing at right is of the purple rectangle shown on the smaller overall sketch above.

The points A, B & C should be judged to the centroid of the vein junctions concerned. The distance "BC" is divided by the distance "AB". There is a tool for doing this known as the Herold Fan named after Pfarrer Herold who devised the method.

Discoidal Shift... Is used most when dealing with AMM types as most other types are zero or positive whilst for AMM this is a negative value.

The measuring tool is set so that the horizontal line passes through the extreme tips of the radial cell with the perpendicular passing through the junction of the "Cubital III Cell" and the "Radial Cell". The offset of point "D" is measured using the angular gradations on the tool. The particular example shown here is a positive value.

Originated... August 2000, Revised... 18 June 2001, Revised... 14 July 2003,

Wing Venation Measurementand other wing Morphometry

Wing Venation Measurement
and other wing Morphometry