Jumping in lantern bugs (Hemiptera, Fulgoridae)

Burrows, Malcolm; Ghosh, Abin; Sutton, Gregory P.; Yeshwanth, H. M.; Rogers, Stephen M.; Sane, S R

doi:10.1242/jeb.243361

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Planthoppers distinguish themselves among insect taxa that produce wax structures with their exceptional jumping abilities. Over the past two decades, researchers have extensively studied planthoppers for their jump performance, power amplification mechanisms, and energy storage strategies, primarily focusing on winged adults across families such as Issidae, Dicytyopharidae, Flatidae, Derbidae, and Fulgoridae [39, 40, 41, 21, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46]. In contrast, the jumping capabilities of planthopper nymphs have received relatively less attention.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wax “tails” enable planthopper nymphs to self-right midair and land on their feet

McDonald,

Alcalde,

Jones

et al. 2024

Preprint

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The striking appearance of wax "tails" - posterior wax projections on planthopper nymphs - has captivated entomologists and naturalists alike. Despite their intriguing presence, the functional roles of these structures remain largely unexplored. This study leverages high-speed imaging to uncover the biomechanical implications of these wax formations in the aerial dynamics of planthopper nymphs (Ricania sp.). We quantitatively demonstrate that removing wax tails significantly increases body rotations during jumps. Specifically, nymphs without wax projections undergo continuous rotations, averaging 4.3 +/- 1.9 per jump, in contrast to wax-intact nymphs, who narrowly complete a full rotation, averaging only 0.7 +/- 0.2 per jump. This suggests that wax structures effectively counteract rotation through aerodynamic drag forces. These stark differences in body rotation correlate with landing success: nymphs with wax intact achieve a near perfect landing rate of 98.5%, while those without wax manage only a 35.5% success rate. Jump trajectory analysis reveals transitions from parabolic to Tartaglia shapes at higher take-off velocities for wax-intact nymphs, illustrating how wax structures assist nymphs in achieving stable, controlled descents. Our findings confirm the aerodynamic self-righting functionality of wax tails in stabilizing planthopper landings, advancing our understanding of the complex interplay between wax morphology and aerial maneuverability, with broader implications for the evolution of flight in wingless insects and bioinspired robotics.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wax “tails” enable planthopper nymphs to self-right midair and land on their feet

McDonald,

Alcalde,

Jones

et al. 2024

Preprint

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“…Most prior studies have focused on the initial take-off period most critical for achieving jumps with optimal values of height and horizontal jumping distance (e.g. Burrows et al, 2021 ; Mo et al, 2020b ; and references therein). However, jumping also presents the organism with challenges in controlling both the direction of its jump and its body orientation throughout the trajectory.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Putting a new spin on insect jumping performance using 3D modeling and computer simulations of spotted lanternfly nymphs

Li,

Xu,

Beery

et al. 2023

Journal of Experimental Biology

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How animals jump and land on diverse surfaces is ecologically important and relevant to bioinspired robotics. Here we describe the jumping biomechanics of the planthopper Lycorma delicatula (spotted lanternfly), an invasive insect in the US that jumps frequently for dispersal, locomotion, and predator evasion. High-speed video was used to analyze jumping by spotted lanternfly nymphs from take-off to impact on compliant surfaces. These insects used rapid hindleg extensions to achieve high take-off speeds (2.7-3.4 m s−1) and accelerations (800-1000 m s−2), with midair trajectories consistent with ballistic motion without drag forces or steering. Despite rotating rapidly (5-45 Hz) about time-varying axes of rotation, they landed successfully in 58.9% of trials. They also attained the most successful impact orientation significantly more often than predicted by chance, consistent with their using attitude control. Notably, these insects were able to land successfully when impacting surfaces at all angles, pointing to the importance of collisional recovery behaviors. To further understand their rotational dynamics, we created realistic 3D rendered models of spotted lanternflies and used them to compute their mechanical properties during jumping. Computer simulations based on these models and drag torques estimated from fits to tracked data successfully predicted several features of the measured rotational kinematics. This analysis showed that the rotational inertia of spotted lanternfly nymphs is predominantly due to their legs, enabling them to use posture changes as well as drag torque to control their angular velocity, and hence their orientation, thereby facilitating predominately successful landings when jumping.

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“…Motions during jumping can be broken into three phases: take-off, midair, and impact and landing. Most prior studies have focused on the initial take-off period most critical for achieving jumps with optimal values of height and horizontal range (e.g., see (Burrows et al, 2021;Mo et al, 2020b) and references therein).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Putting a new spin on insect jumping performance using 3D modeling and computer simulations of spotted lanternfly nymphs

Li,

Xu,

Beery

et al. 2023

Preprint

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How animals jump and land on a variety of surfaces is an ecologically important problem relevant to bioinspired robotics. We investigated this topic in the context of the jumping biomechanics of the planthopper Lycorma delicatula (the spotted lanternfly, SLF), an invasive insect in the US that jumps frequently for dispersal, locomotion, and predator evasion. High-speed video was used to analyze jumping by SLF nymphs from take-off to impact on compliant surfaces. These insects used rapid hindleg extensions to achieve high take-off speeds (2.7-3.4 m/s) and accelerations (800-1000 ms-2), with midair trajectories consistent with zero-drag ballistic motion without steering. Despite rotating rapidly (5-45 Hz) in the air about time-varying axes of rotation, they landed successfully in 58.9% of trials; they also attained the most successful impact orientation significantly more often than predicted by chance, consistent with their using attitude control. Notably, these insects were able to land successfully when impacting surfaces at all angles, pointing to the emerging importance of collisional recovery behaviors. To further understand their rotational dynamics, we created realistic 3D rendered models of SLFs and used them to compute their mechanical properties during jumping. Computer simulations based on these models and drag torques estimated from fits to tracked data successfully predicted several features of their measured rotational kinematics. This analysis showed that SLF nymphs are able to use posture changes and drag torques to control their angular velocity, and hence their orientation, thereby facilitating predominately successful landings when jumping.

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Jumping in lantern bugs (Hemiptera, Fulgoridae)

Cited by 7 publications

References 53 publications

Wax “tails” enable planthopper nymphs to self-right midair and land on their feet

Wax “tails” enable planthopper nymphs to self-right midair and land on their feet

Putting a new spin on insect jumping performance using 3D modeling and computer simulations of spotted lanternfly nymphs

Putting a new spin on insect jumping performance using 3D modeling and computer simulations of spotted lanternfly nymphs

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