Smith A A, Harrison J S
Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
Research and Collections, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC 27601, USA.
Integr Org Biol. 2024 Aug 29;6(1):obae029. doi: 10.1093/iob/obae029. eCollection 2024.
Springtails are among the most abundant arthropods on earth and they exhibit unique latch-mediated spring-actuated jumping behaviors and anatomical systems. Despite this, springtail jumps have not been well described, especially for those with a globular body plan. Here, we provide a complete description and visualization of jumping in the globular springtail . A furca-powered jump results in an average take-off velocity of 1 ms in 1.7 ms, with a fastest acceleration to liftoff of 1938 ms. All jumps involve rapid backwards body rotation throughout, rotating on average at 282.2 Hz with a peak rate of 368.7 Hz. Despite body lengths of 1-2 mm, jumping resulted in a backwards trajectory traveling up to 102 mm in horizontal distance and 62 mm in vertical. Escape jumps in response to posterior stimulation did not elicit forward-facing jumps, suggesting that is incapable of directing a jump off a flat surface within the 90° heading directly in front of them. Finally, two landing strategies were observed: collophore-anchoring, which allows for an immediate arrest and recovery, and uncontrolled landings where the springtail chaotically tumbles. In comparison to other fast jumping arthropods, linear performance measures globular springtail jumps place them between other systems like fleas and froghoppers. However, in angular body rotation, globular springtails like surpass all other animal systems. Given the extraordinary performance measures, unique behavioral responses, and understudied nature of these species, globular springtails present promising opportunities for further description and comparison.
跳虫是地球上数量最为丰富的节肢动物之一，它们展现出独特的由闩锁介导的弹簧驱动跳跃行为和解剖系统。尽管如此，跳虫的跳跃行为尚未得到充分描述，尤其是对于那些具有球形身体结构的跳虫。在此，我们提供了对球形跳虫跳跃的完整描述和可视化呈现。由弹器驱动的跳跃在1.7毫秒内产生的平均起飞速度为1米/秒，达到起飞的最快加速度为1938米/秒²。所有跳跃过程中身体都会迅速向后旋转，平均旋转频率为282.2赫兹，峰值速率为368.7赫兹。尽管体长仅1 - 2毫米，但跳跃产生的向后轨迹在水平距离上可达102毫米，垂直距离上可达62毫米。对后部刺激做出的逃避跳跃不会引发向前的跳跃，这表明[此处原文似乎缺失部分内容]无法在其正前方90°范围内的平坦表面上直接引导跳跃。最后，观察到两种着陆策略：黏管固定着陆，这使得跳虫能够立即停止并恢复；以及不受控制的着陆，即跳虫会混乱地翻滚。与其他快速跳跃的节肢动物相比，线性性能指标显示球形跳虫的跳跃能力介于跳蚤和沫蝉等其他系统之间。然而，在身体角旋转方面，[此处原文似乎缺失部分内容]这样的球形跳虫超越了所有其他动物系统。鉴于这些物种具有非凡的性能指标、独特的行为反应以及未被充分研究的特性，球形跳虫为进一步的描述和比较提供了有前景的机会。
