Pygmy Mole Crickets Leap From the Surface of Water Using Paddles on Their Hind Legs
Posted on December 4, 2012
Pygmy mole crickets have the remarkable ability to jump right from the surface of the water. The tiny insects can jump as high as 0.7 meters and as far as a 1 meter on land. From the surface of the water they can jump distances of 5.4 times their body length. The insects have spring-loaded paddles and spurs on their hind legs that enable them to propel a ball of water downwards and launch themselves into the air.
Professor Malcolm Burrows, from the University of Cambridge's Department of Zoology, started investigating the insects after hearing them make noises in the water. Burrows says the pygmy mole cricket can extend its legs in about 1 millisecond at an angular velocity of 130,000 degrees per second.
Burrows says in the announcement, "For small insects, water can be a deadly, sticky trap; water grabs and holds an insect, offering it as an appetizing snack for an alert fish. Other animals use surface water tension, keeping a small layer of air between their feet and the water. However, if their feet get wet, they will be pulled into the water and drown. Pygmy mole crickets turn the stickiness of water to their advantage and use this property to enable jumping."
The research was published here in the journal, Current Biology.