Halteres (from Ancient Greek: ἁλτῆρες, hand-held weights to give an impetus in leaping) are a pair of small club-shaped organs on the body of two orders of flying insects that provide information about body rotations during … See more

In segmented organisms there are genes called Hox genes, which determine the development of serial homologs, or repeating structures within an organism (e.g. jointed appendages of arthropods or vertebrae in mammals ). In insects, the thorax See more

The general structure of halteres are well recognized, but much variability exists between species. The more ancient family groups, such as Tipuloidea (crane flies), possess halteres … See more

The majority of insects have two pairs of wings. Flies possess only one set of lift-generating wings and one set of halteres. The order name for flies, "Diptera", literally means "two wings", … See more

Halteres were first documented by William Derham in 1714. He discovered that flies were unable to remain airborne when their halteres were surgically removed, but otherwise behaved … See more

Dipteran insects along with the majority of other insect orders use what are known as indirect flight muscles to accomplish flight. Indirect insect flight muscles are composed of two sets of perpendicular muscles (see left figure) that are attached to the thorax (instead … See more

Head stabilization
Insect eyes are unable to move independently of the head. In order for flies to stabilize their visual fields, they must adjust the position of … See more