Mechanical Gears in Insect

Though common throughout gardens in Great Britain, young planthoppers possess a physical trait that is spectacularly uncommon in nature: two honest-to-goodness gears on their hind legs, the only known functioning gear system of any organism.

In a paper published Sept. 13 in the UK journal, Science, zoologist, Malcolm Burrows, and mechanical engineer, Greg Sutton, revealed their findings about this singular insect.

The two spent 10 years studying the movements of jumping insects at the University of Cambridge in the UK. By flipping the insects on their backs and tickling them with a paintbrush, they were able to make them kick while taking pictures of them with a high-speed camera.

When it came to planthopper nymphs, the two scientists noted something fairly extraordinary: their hind legs could synchronize their movements in 30 millionths of a second. That's faster than a neuron can be fired off to the brain, meaning the planthopper's legs actually start jumping before its nervous system tells it to.

2013-08-30

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