Tiny insect jumps on water

Описание: An insect not much bigger than a grain of rice is able to repeatedly jump on the surface of water using specialised paddles on their hind legs, new research reveals. The pygmy mole cricket, which is really more closely related to a grasshopper than a cricket, is only 5mm (1/4 inch) long and weighs less than 10mg. They live in burrows that they dig into the muddy banks alongside fresh water, to include creeks and ponds, in more tropical habitats. On land they can jump as far as 1 metre and as high as 0.7 metre, but accuracy is sacrificed for speed and they often end up in the nearby water.

In order to escape the water, where they are easy prey for fish, the pygmy mole cricket rapidly (the legs are extended in about 1 millisecond at an angular velocity of 130,000 degrees per second) push their powerful hind legs into the water. As they push downward, specialised spring-loaded paddles and spurs fan out to increase the surface area (which is increased by 2.4 times). This enables them to propel a ball of water downwards, launching them upwards into the air. Once the thrust has been applied, the paddles then rapidly snap closed to reduce the drag. On water, the jumps can reach distances of 33mm (5.4 times the length of their body) and 100mm high.