2013/09/13 by Malcolm Burrows, Gregory P. Sutton · 1 citation
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Mathematics · #Orthoptera Research and Taxonomy #Hemiptera Insect Studies #Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior #Jumping #Rotation (mathematics) #Mechanism (biology) #Insect #Anatomy #Physics #Biology #Mathematics #Geometry #Ecology #Paleontology
paper · doi:10.1126/science.1240284
openalex publication_date 2013/09/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Gears are found rarely in animals and have never been reported to intermesh and rotate functionally like mechanical gears. We now demonstrate functional gears in the ballistic jumping movements of the flightless planthopper insect Issus. The nymphs, but not adults, have a row of cuticular gear (cog) teeth around the curved medial surfaces of their two hindleg trochantera. The gear teeth on one trochanter engaged with and sequentially moved past those on the other trochanter during the preparatory cocking and the propulsive phases of jumping. Close registration between the gears ensured that both hindlegs moved at the same angular velocities to propel the body without yaw rotation. At the final molt to adulthood, this synchronization mechanism is jettisoned.