Anax junius as an MAV (Micro Air Vehicle) -

Last updated 14 February 2002

See the Anax junius Sexual Dimorphism Web Page for detailed mass data on these insects. Right - Male and female Anax junius dragonflies.

Mueller and DeLaurier (2001, An overview of Micro Air Vehicle Aerodynamics, pp. 1-10 In T. J. Mueller (Ed.), Fixed and flapping wing aerodynamics for Micro Air Vehicle applications, Vol. 195, Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Reston, Virginia) quote R.J. Foch of the Naval Weapons Lab as giving a set of weight fractions for airframe (21%), engine (11%), battery (i.e. fuel, 30%), payload (21%), and avionics (17%) for an MAV.

I have taken my data for Anax junius component weights and used the head weight for avionics (since that includes the eyes, which are a major part of the insects' control system), the abdominal water and lipid weight (gonads = payload, lipid = fuel) as combined payload and fuel, flight muscle as the engine, and the rest (cuticle, legs, etc) as airframe. (Not exact, but as close as I could come using the way I had measured the component weights.)

Below are pie charts comparing the weight distributions.

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