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Halteres (; singular halter or haltere) are small knobbed structures found as a pair in some two-winged insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s. They are flapped rapidly and function as accelerometers to help the insect maintain stability in flight, analogous to an aircraft's attitude indicator
Attitude indicator

An attitude indicator , List_of_acronyms_and_initialisms:_A#AK gyro horizon or artificial horizon, is an flight instruments used in an aircraft to inform the pilot of the orientation of the aircraft relative to earth....
.

The halteres evolved from wings
Insect wing

Insect wings are outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to Insect flight. They are found on the second and third thorax segments , and the two pairs are often referred to as the forewings and hindwings, respectively, though a few insects lack hindwings, even rudiments....
.






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Crane Fly Halteres
Halteres (; singular halter or haltere) are small knobbed structures found as a pair in some two-winged insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s. They are flapped rapidly and function as accelerometers to help the insect maintain stability in flight, analogous to an aircraft's attitude indicator
Attitude indicator

An attitude indicator , List_of_acronyms_and_initialisms:_A#AK gyro horizon or artificial horizon, is an flight instruments used in an aircraft to inform the pilot of the orientation of the aircraft relative to earth....
.

The halteres evolved from wings
Insect wing

Insect wings are outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to Insect flight. They are found on the second and third thorax segments , and the two pairs are often referred to as the forewings and hindwings, respectively, though a few insects lack hindwings, even rudiments....
. The ancestral insect species had two pairs of wings (like dragonflies
Dragonfly

A dragonfly is a type of insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera....
 and most other flying insect species have). In the Strepsiptera
Strepsiptera

The Strepsiptera are an order of insects with nine families making up about 600 species. The early stage larvae and the short-lived adult males are free-living but most of their life is spent as endoparasites in other insects such as bees, wasps, leafhoppers, silverfish, and cockroaches....
 the forewings evolved into halteres, while in the Diptera (flies, mosquitoes and gnats) the hindwings changed into halteres.

In Diptera, the formation of the haltere during metamorphosis
Metamorphosis

.Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically developmental biology after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's form or structure through cell cell growth#Cell reproduction and cell differentiation....
 is dependent on the homeotic gene
Homeotic gene

Hox genes are a group a related genes that specify the anterior-posterior axis and Segmentation of Animal organisms during early Embryo development....
 Ultrabithorax
Ultrabithorax

Ultrabithorax or Ubx is a member of the homeobox gene family. In Drosophila melanogaster it is expressed in the third thoracic and first abdominal segments and represses wing formation....
 (Ubx). If this gene is experimentally deactivated, the haltere will develop into a fully developed wing. This is an excellent illustration of an important mechanism of evolutionary development; a simple homeotic gene change can result in a radically different phenotype.

Halteres operate as vibrating structure gyroscope
Vibrating structure gyroscope

In science, a vibrating structure gyroscope is a type ofgyroscope that functions much like the halteresof insects. Miniaturized devices on this principle...
s. They flap up and down as the wings do and tend to maintain their plane of vibration. If the body of the insect changes direction in flight or rotates about its axis, a Coriolis force develops on the vibrating haltere, deflecting it from its stroke plane. The animal detects this deflection with sensory organs known as campaniform sensilla
Campaniform sensilla

Campaniform sensilla are mechanoreceptors found in insects. When the exoskeleton bends the resulting strain stimulates the sensilla. The displacement is transmitted down until it reaches the central nervous system....
 located at the base of the halteres. The planes of vibration of the two halteres are orthogonal, each forming an angle of about 45 degrees with the axis of the insect.

Halteres thus act as a balancing and guidance system
Guidance system

A guidance system is a device or group of devices used to navigation a ship, aircraft, missile, rocket, satellite, or other craft. Typically, this refers to a system that navigates without direct or continuous human control....
, helping these insects to perform their fast aerobatics
Aerobatics

File:Sarang 2.jpgAerobatics is the demonstration of flight maneuvers for training, recreation or entertainment.Many aerobatic maneuvers involve rotation of the aircraft about its longtitudinal axis or the pitch axis ....
. In addition to providing rapid feedback to the muscles steering the wings, they also play an important role in stabilizing the head during flight.

External links

  • , The Telegraph, 23 April 1998