Jumping mechanisms and performance in beetles. I. Flea beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Alticini)

Abstract

The present study analyses the anatomy, mechanics and functional morphology of the jumping apparatus, the performance and the kinematics of the natural jump of flea beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini). The kinematic parameters of the initial phase of the jump were calculated for five species from five genera (average values from minimum to maximum): acceleration 0.91-2.25 (×10 ) of the femoro-tibial joint during the jumping movement and the fast full extension of the hind tibia (1-3 ms) suggest that jumping is performed via a catapult mechanism releasing energy that has beforehand been stored in the extensor ligament during its stretching by the extensor muscles. In addition, the morphology of the femoro-tibial joint suggests that the co-contraction of the flexor and the extensor muscles in the femur of the jumping leg is involved in this process.

Taxonomic revision of the genus Angulaphthona (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini)

“…The terminology for genitalia follows: Döberl (1986), Furth & Suzuki (1994) and Suzuki (1988) for the spermatheca; D' Alessandro et al (2016: Fig. 10E) for the median lobe of the aedeagus, and Furth & Suzuki (1998) and Nadein & Betz (2016) for the metafemoral extensor tendon. Ecological notes are reported in terms of African types of vegetation, primarily the divisions and formations identifi ed and described by Sayre et al (2013), based on the geographic coordinates of the localities where the specimens were collected.…”

“…Alticini are a tribe of small to medium sized Coleoptera Chrysomelidae, named "fl ea beetles" because of the presence of a metafemoral extensor tendon that enables them to jump (Furth & Suzuki, 1998;Nadein & Betz, 2016). It is included within the subfamily Galerucinae, along with the closely related Galerucini (Bouchard et al, 2011).…”

Hesperoides, a new “hairy” flea beetle genus from southern Africa (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini)

“…The terminology follows D' Alessandro et al (2016, Fig. 10E) for the median lobe of aedeagus, Döberl (1986), Furth & Suzuki (1994) and Suzuki (1988) for the spermatheca, and Furth (1982), Furth & Suzuki (1998) and Nadein & Betz (2016) for the metafemoral extensor tendon.…”

“…Alticini are a tribe of small to medium sized Coleoptera Chrysomelidae, named 'flea beetles' because of the presence of a metafemoral extensor tendon that enable them to jump (Furth & Suzuki 1998;Nadein & Betz 2016). It is included within the subfamily Galerucinae, along with the closely related Galerucini (Bouchard et al 2011).…”

Jumping performance of flea hoppers and other mirid bugs (Hemiptera, Miridae)

“…The fastest jumpers use catapult mechanisms, as exemplified by insects such as fleas (Bennet-Clark and Lucey, 1967), locusts (Bennet-Clark, 1975), flea beetles (Brackenbury and Wang, 1995;Nadein and Betz, 2016;Schmitt, 2004) and many hemipteran plantsucking bugs (Burrows, 2003(Burrows, , 2009a. The power requirements of the muscles in these jumps are beyond the maximum active contractile limits of muscle from different animals (Askew and Marsh, 2002;Ellington, 1985;Josephson, 1993;Weis-Fogh and Alexander, 1977).…”