Are we talking about wings butted up close to each other, like the dragonfly, or a longer body with wings at multiple points? If it's a longer body, is the space between rigid or sinuous?
just as a quick set of thoughts...
- 4 wings together - well, I'm not seeing that this winds up being so very much different than a two-wing structure, though it probably allows you to do a few things (specialization into propulsion and lift, for example) that would not otherwise be available. On the pro side, you can run with a generally sinous body, maintain a relatively long tail (possibly flattened/flanged into a lifting/guiding body, particularly if the lift wings are near-stationary when in place) and travel along the ground as a snake. It also lets you play coatl, which is always fun.
- 4 wings apart, rigid - might work okay in the sky (I'm certain there are issues, but it depends on exactly what you're doing, and I don't have the grasp of aerodynamics or structural engineering (biological) to tell you anyway. On the ground, having a significant length of your body be rigid without the motivator limbs to walk around with is going to be not your friend.
- 4 wings apart, flexible - I might be concerned about back strain here. Having pull wings in the front and lift wings int he back might work though.
Note that dragonflies are quite small. They have some very nice little squared-cubed ratios working in their favor. Just having four wings isn't going to cut it most of the time.
There's also the question of interacting with the ground. What does iteat, and how does it get it? Unless you want the winds to be hybrids, you're looking at a mount and a tail as the only available manipulator limbs. Dos it sleep, and if so how? Regardless of what you do, it's not going to be particularly *graceful* on the ground, or be able to move all that fast. It's probably not going to be particularly easy to work in a quick takeoff technique either. That means either being able to burrow under something/fit into crevices, arranging for sleep in some difficult-to-get-to spot (like trees or cliffsides) or having some sort of pretty scary defenses. Once you've got that, you have to think abotu what, exactly, this second set of wings is buying. What can this critter do with four wings that it could not have done with just two, and is that somehow a big enough advantage to overwhelm the associated disadvantages?
just as a quick set of thoughts...
- 4 wings together - well, I'm not seeing that this winds up being so very much different than a two-wing structure, though it probably allows you to do a few things (specialization into propulsion and lift, for example) that would not otherwise be available. On the pro side, you can run with a generally sinous body, maintain a relatively long tail (possibly flattened/flanged into a lifting/guiding body, particularly if the lift wings are near-stationary when in place) and travel along the ground as a snake. It also lets you play coatl, which is always fun.
- 4 wings apart, rigid - might work okay in the sky (I'm certain there are issues, but it depends on exactly what you're doing, and I don't have the grasp of aerodynamics or structural engineering (biological) to tell you anyway. On the ground, having a significant length of your body be rigid without the motivator limbs to walk around with is going to be not your friend.
- 4 wings apart, flexible - I might be concerned about back strain here. Having pull wings in the front and lift wings int he back might work though.
Note that dragonflies are quite small. They have some very nice little squared-cubed ratios working in their favor. Just having four wings isn't going to cut it most of the time.
There's also the question of interacting with the ground. What does iteat, and how does it get it? Unless you want the winds to be hybrids, you're looking at a mount and a tail as the only available manipulator limbs. Dos it sleep, and if so how? Regardless of what you do, it's not going to be particularly *graceful* on the ground, or be able to move all that fast. It's probably not going to be particularly easy to work in a quick takeoff technique either. That means either being able to burrow under something/fit into crevices, arranging for sleep in some difficult-to-get-to spot (like trees or cliffsides) or having some sort of pretty scary defenses. Once you've got that, you have to think abotu what, exactly, this second set of wings is buying. What can this critter do with four wings that it could not have done with just two, and is that somehow a big enough advantage to overwhelm the associated disadvantages?