Jumping of Water Striders (IMAGE)

Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution at Seoul National University

Jumping of Water Striders

Caption

Figure. 1. Due to the presence of surface tension, insect legs create shallow dimples on the water surface by bending the surface down without breaking it (A). When predators, such like backswimmers (B), attack from under the surface, water striders save themselves by extremely quick jumps off the substrate (C), during which the insects strongly and yet precisely press the water surface with their legs, expanding the dimples downward without breaking the surface tension. (A- Photo by P.G.Jablonski; B- photo by C.S. Han, C- a single frame from a slow motion video of jumping water strider with dimples created by front and hind legs tinted with different colors).

Credit

CS Han, PG Jablonski,

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