Insect wings are fantastically sensitive, feeling the wind, touch and even tasting. Now researchers from Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Germany, reveal in Journal of Experimental Biology that tobacco hawkmoth wings also have a sense of smell to help them sniff out the plants that they lay their eggs on.

Insect wings are fantastically sensitive, feeling the wind, touch and even tasting. Now researchers from Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Germany, reveal in Journal of…

Until now, scientists have mostly focused on the wings' mechanical function. Turns out there was a lot more going on then they realized.