Insect's Legs Have Mechanical Like Gears

2013-09-17 123

Humans living in Alexandria, Greece around 300 B.C.E reportedly invented mechanical gears, which has led to developments like bicycles and cars. Researchers from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom have discovered the first instance of mechanical like gears that evolved naturally on insects called Issus coleoptratus.

Humans living in Alexandria, Greece around 300 B.C. reportedly invented mechanical gears, which has led to developments like bicycles and cars.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom have discovered the first instance of mechanical like gears in nature, on an insect called Issus coleoptratus.

They belong to a group of insects more commonly known as planthoppers.

Gregory Sutton who worked on the study said: “We usually think of gears as something that we see in human designed machinery, but we’ve found that that is only because we didn’t look hard enough. These gears are not designed; they are evolved—representing high speed and precision machinery evolved for synchronisation in the animal world.”

Researchers studied a high speed video of the insect jumping, along with electron microscope analysis, and discovered the gear like mechanism that is part of the insect’s legs.

It allows them to move their legs quickly at the same time so that they can jump in a straight line.

The planthoppers can jump at speeds up to 8 point 7 miles per hour.

Only younger insects of the species have these gears in their legs, and the mechanism in the legs changes as the insects get older.