Locomotion by jumping in the Mediterranean fruit-fly larva Ceratitis capitata

Maitland, David P.

doi:10.1038/355159a0

Cited by 60 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…For example, the larvae of the fruit fly Ceratitis capitata when ready to pupate jump to avoid predators by anchoring mouth hooks at the rear of the body to roll up the body and then unfurling it rapidly by elastic recoil (Maitland, 1992). Springtails rapidly extend an abdominal appendage (Brackenbury and Hunt, 1993;Christian, 1978) and click beetles jack-knife their body at the junction between the pro-and mesothorax (Evans, 1972;Evans, 1973;Kaschek, 1984).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Jumping performance of planthoppers (Hemiptera, Issidae)

Burrows

2009

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYThe structure of the hind limbs and the kinematics of their movements that propel jumping in planthopper insects (Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha, Fulgoroidea, Issidae) were analysed. The propulsion for a jump was delivered by rapid movements of the hind legs that both move in the same plane beneath the body and parallel to its longitudinal axis, as revealed in high-speed sequences of images captured at rates up to 7500 images s -1 . The first and key movement was the depression of both trochantera about their coxae, powered by large depressor muscles in the thorax, accompanied by rapid extension of the tibiae about their femora. The initial movements of the two trochantera of the hind legs were synchronised to within 0.03 ms. The hind legs are only 20% longer than the front and middle legs, represent 65% of the body length, and have a ratio of 1.8 relative to the cube root of the body mass. The two hind coxae have a different structure to those in frog-and leafhoppers. They are fused at the mid-line, covered ventrally by transparent cuticle, and each is fixed laterally to a part of the internal skeleton called the pleural arch that extends to the articulation of a hind wing. A small and pointed, ventral coxal protrusion covered in microtrichia engages with a raised, smooth, white patch on a dorsal femur when a hind leg is levated (cocked) in preparation for a jump. In the best jumps by a male Issus, the body was accelerated in 0.8 ms to a take-off velocity of 5.5 m s -1 , was subjected to a force of 719 g and was displaced a horizontal distance of 1.1 m. This performance required an energy output of 303 μJ, a power output of 388 mW and exerted a force of 141 mN, or more than 700 times its body mass. This performance implies that a catapult mechanism must be used, and that Issus ranks alongside the froghopper Philaenus as one of the best insect jumpers. Supplementary material available online at

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Jumping performance of planthoppers (Hemiptera, Issidae)

Burrows

2009

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…During evolution they have refined many different escaping strategies (Cain, 1985;Masters and Eisner, 1990). One of the main methods used by insects to escape from predators is to increase the speed of locomotion (Bennet-Clark and Lucey, 1967;Evans, 1972;Christian, 1978;Brackenbury and Hunt, 1993;Maitland, 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The green leafhopper,Cicadella viridis(Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha, Cicadellidae), jumps with near-constant acceleration

Bonsignori

Stefanini

Scarfogliero

et al. 2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARY Jumping insects develop accelerations that can greatly exceed gravitational acceleration. Although several species have been analysed using different tools, ranging from a purely physical to a morpho-physiological approach, instantaneous dynamic and kinematic data concerning the jumping motion are lacking. This is mainly due to the difficulty in observing in detail events that occur in a few milliseconds. In this study, the behaviour of the green leafhopper, Cicadella viridis, was investigated during the take-off phase of the jump, through high-speed video recordings (8000 frames s−1). We demonstrate that C. viridis is able to maintain fairly constant acceleration during overall leg elongation. The force exerted at the foot–ground interface is nearly constant and differs from the force expected from other typical motion models. A biomechanical model was used to highlight that this ability relies on the morphology of C. viridis hind legs, which act as a motion converter with a variable transmission ratio and use the time-dependent musculo-elastic force to generate a nearly constant thrust at the body–ground interface. This modulation mechanism minimizes the risk of breaking the substrate thanks to the absence of force peaks. The results of this study are of broad relevance in different research fields ranging from biomechanics to robotics.

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“…The repeatable nature of these movements has enabled detailed analyses of the underlying neuronal mechanisms (Burrows, 1996) and determination of the mechanical and muscular solutions to these extreme locomotory demands. Click beetles (Elateridae) jack-knife a joint in their thorax (Evans, 1972;Evans, 1973), bristletails (Archaeognatha) (Evans, 1975), springtails (Collembola) (Brackenbury and Hunt, 1993) and the larvae of some flies (Maitland, 1992) use movements of their abdomens. Particular ants (Baroni et al, 1994;Tautz et al, 1994) and the stick insect Sipyloidea sp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%