Swimming of the midge larva: Principles and tricks of locomotion at intermediate Reynolds number

At the millimeter scale and in intermediate Reynolds number ( Re) regime, midge mosquito larvae can reach swimming speeds of more than one body length per cycle performing a “figure eight” gait, which their elongated bodies periodically bend nearly into circles then fully unfold. To elucidate propulsion mechanism this motion, we conducted three-dimensional (3D) numerical study, investigates hydrodynamics undergoing prescribed kinematics. We found novel mechanisms, such as modulating deformation rate to dynamically increase maximum net force, using asymmetric kinematics generate torque appropriate rotation, controlling radius curled manipulate moment inertia. The figure eight gait is achieve at wide range Re but most effective Re. results were further validated experimentally, via development soft millimeter-sized robot that comparable gait.