1. ABOUT THE DATASET -------------------- Title: Insects select flight speeds that coincide with low metabolic energy expenditure Creator(s): Graham Askew Organisation(s): University of Leeds Rights-holder(s):Unless otherwise stated, Copyright 2026 University of Leeds Publication Year: 2026 Description: These data relate to an investigation into energetics of flight in four species of insect at a range of flight speeds during tethered-flight. The study was carried out in a closed-circuit wind tunnel. The data are gross metabolic rate (rate of carbon dioxide production) and metabolic cost of transport (rate of carbon dioxide production per metre). All species showed clear changes in energy use with speed, with flight being more expensive at very low and very high speeds. The speeds associated with the lowest energetic cost matched the preferred flight speeds previously reported for these insects. These findings suggest that insects, like birds and bats, choose flight speeds that minimise energy expenditure, helping explain how energy use shapes their behaviour. Cite as: Tickle, P.G., Senior, E.J. and Askew, G.N. (2026). Dataset for "Insects select flight speeds that coincide with low metabolic energy expenditure". University of Leeds. https://doi.org/10.5518/1870 Related publication: Tickle, P.G., Senior, E.J. and Askew, G.N. (2026). Insects select flight speeds that coincide with low metabolic energy expenditure. Royal Society Open Science, in press. Contact: g.n.askew@leeds.ac.uk 2. TERMS OF USE --------------- [A standard copyright notice and licence statement with URL can be used, e.g. Copyright [publication year] [University of Leeds, name of other rights-holder(s)]. Unless otherwise stated, this dataset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.] 3. PROJECT AND FUNDING INFORMATION ---------------------------------- Funding organisation: BBSRC Grant no.: BB/J000523/1; BB/R00109X/1 4. CONTENTS ----------- File listing Tickle et al_Insect_Energetics_dataset.xlsx ID: animal identification code Body mass (g): body mass measured in g Speed: airspeed measured in m/s Metabolic power (W/kg): body mass-specific metabolic power Metabolic COT (J/kg/m): metabolic cost of transport measured in J/kg/m 5. METHODS ---------- Details in Tickle et al. (2026). Royal Society Open Science