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held the record). Several biologically important high speed animal=20 movements like the locust/grasshopper jump or mantid-shrimp strike are=20= much too fast and powerful to work by contacting any known muscle in=20 real time -- the power needed is too great. Where the solution is=20 known in one or two cases, the rapid movements happen instead by the=20 animal slowly winding up tension over time with a big muscle, and=20 storing energy as deformation at a joint in a rubber-like compound=20 (resilin), but protected by a physical catch, much like that on a=20 crossbow. Then at the appropriate time when danger approaches, a=20 smaller muscle is used to flip the catch like a trigger, whereupon a=20 large force can be released quickly to power the jump or whatever. He=20= takes really high speed digital images of them jumping, from which one=20= can get info about acceleration and therefore about the initial force=20 at take-off. Does anyone know anything about these toadbugs, if they live in Nova=20 Scotia, where to get them and what date they appear on the scene? I'm=20= thinking that Angus or Bev Wigney may have run into them with a camera,=20= or Chris might know. The two sites he quotes below have good pics of=20 the ugly little beasts, but maybe beauty is in the eye... Any info on toadbugs would be useful. Steve ****************************************** Begin forwarded message: > Dear Steve > I was reading about another group of Heteropteran bugs that jump.=A0=20= > They occur in N America and I was wondering if they occurred near=20 > you.=A0 They are toad bugs and belong to the family Gelastocoridae > http://bugguide.net/node/view/158=A0 > I think you might have a beast called Gelastocoris oculatus > http://www.stephencresswell.com/s/5525.html=A0 > If it seems likely that we could get some of these bugs or the ones I=20= > previously mentioned (eg Membracids) then I will certainly bring the=20= > high speed camera.=A0 I attach a PDF that is all about staining or=20 > seeing resilin in insects.=A0 It would be great if this would work in=20= > froghoppers.=A0 > --Apple-Mail-3--121089403 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/enriched; charset=ISO-8859-1 I've had a request for info about the possible availability of Toadbugs from a colleague from UK who will be visiting here for a couple of weeks in early August, see below. He's currently doing a comparative survey of insect jumpers and has the present world record, or rather his UK spittlebug does (this is defined I think by height achieved or maybe initial acceleration, per unit mass at take-off;=20 earlier, fleas held the record). Several biologically important high speed animal movements like the locust/grasshopper jump or mantid-shrimp strike are much too fast and powerful to work by contacting any known muscle in real time -- the power needed is too great. Where the solution is known in one or two cases, the rapid movements happen instead by the animal slowly winding up tension over time with a big muscle, and storing energy as deformation at a joint in a rubber-like compound (resilin), but protected by a physical catch, much like that on a crossbow. Then at the appropriate time when danger approaches, a smaller muscle is used to flip the catch like a trigger, whereupon a large force can be released quickly to power the jump or whatever. He takes really high speed digital images of them jumping, from which one can get info about acceleration and therefore about the initial force at take-off. =20 Does anyone know anything about these toadbugs, if they live in Nova Scotia, where to get them and what date they appear on the scene? I'm thinking that Angus or Bev Wigney may have run into them with a camera, or Chris might know. The two sites he quotes below have good pics of the ugly little beasts, but maybe beauty is in the eye... =20 Any info on toadbugs would be useful. =20 Steve=20 ****************************************** Begin forwarded message: <excerpt><fontfamily><param>Comic Sans MS</param>Dear Steve I was reading about another group of Heteropteran bugs that jump.=A0 They occur in N America and I was wondering if they occurred near you.=A0 They are toad bugs and belong to the family Gelastocoridae </fontfamily><fontfamily><param>Times New Roman</param> http://bugguide.net/node/view/158=A0 = </fontfamily><fontfamily><param>Comic Sans MS</param> I think you might have a beast called Gelastocoris oculatus </fontfamily><fontfamily><param>Times New Roman</param> http://www.stephencresswell.com/s/5525.html=A0 = </fontfamily><fontfamily><param>Comic Sans MS</param> If it seems likely that we could get some of these bugs or the ones I previously mentioned (eg Membracids) then I will certainly bring the high speed camera.=A0 I attach a PDF that is all about staining or seeing resilin in insects.=A0 It would be great if this would work in froghoppers.=A0</fontfamily> </excerpt> --Apple-Mail-3--121089403--
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