ArticleThe Journal of experimental biology2016
Take-off speed in jumping mantises depends on body size and a power-limited mechanism.
Article in The Journal of experimental biology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Control of high-speed jumps: removing rotation from the jumps of locusts (Schistocerca gregaria).The Journal of experimental biology · 2026Article
- Jumping up a level: Target distance and angle estimation facilitates successful landing in a jumping glass katydid.iScience · 2025Article
- Sexual dimorphism in jump kinematics and choreography in peacock spiders.The Journal of experimental biology · 2025Article
- Mantises Jump from Smooth Surfaces by Pushing with "Heel" Pads of Their Hind Legs.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- A Centimeter-Scale Quadruped Piezoelectric Robot with High Integration and Strong Robustness.Cyborg and bionic systems (Washington, D.C.) · 2025Article
- Beyond power limits: the kinetic energy capacity of skeletal muscle.The Journal of experimental biology · 2024Review
- Fracture-driven power amplification in a hydrogel launcher.Nature materials · 2024Article
- Stable Jumping Control Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning for a Locust-Inspired Robot.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Dynamic similarity and the peculiar allometry of maximum running speed.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Control of high-speed jumps in muscle and spring actuated systems: a comparative study of take-off energetics in bush-crickets (Mecopoda elongata) and locusts (Schistocerca gregaria).Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2023Article
- A theory of physiological similarity in muscle-driven motion.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Control of high-speed jumps: the rotation and energetics of the locust (Schistocerca gregaria).Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2023Article
- Parallel And Divergent Morphological Adaptations Underlying The Evolution of Jumping Ability in Ants.Integrative organismal biology (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
- Autonomous snapping and jumping polymer gels.Nature materials · 2021Article
- Jump takeoff in a small jumping spider.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2021Article
- Why do Large Animals Never Actuate Their Jumps with Latch-Mediated Springs? Because They can Jump Higher Without Them.Integrative and comparative biology · 2019Article
- Planthopper bugs use a fast, cyclic elastic recoil mechanism for effective vibrational communication at small body size.PLoS biology · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Many insects such as fleas, froghoppers and grasshoppers use a catapult mechanism to jump, and a direct consequence of this is that their take-off velocities are independent of their mass. In contrast, insects such as mantises, caddis flies and bush crickets propel their jumps by direct muscle contractions. What constrains the jumping performance of insects that use this second mechanism? To answer this question, the jumping performance of the mantis Stagmomantis theophila was measured through all its developmental stages, from 5 mg first instar nymphs to 1200 mg adults. Older and heavier mantises have longer hind and middle legs and higher take-off velocities than younger and lighter mantises. The length of the propulsive hind and middle legs scaled approximately isometrically with body mass (exponent=0.29 and 0.32, respectively). The front legs, which do not contribute to propulsion, scaled with an exponent of 0.37. Take-off velocity increased with increasing body mass (exponent=0.12). Time to accelerate increased and maximum acceleration decreased, but the measured power that a given mass of jumping muscle produced remained constant throughout all stages. Mathematical models were used to distinguish between three possible limitations to the scaling relationships: first, an energy-limited model (which explains catapult jumpers); second, a power-limited model; and third, an acceleration -: limited model. Only the model limited by muscle power explained the experimental data. Therefore, the two biomechanical mechanisms impose different limitations on jumping: those involving direct muscle contractions (mantises) are constrained by muscle power, whereas those involving catapult mechanisms are constrained by muscle energy.
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