The power of the ping!

[Wild-Woman]

How on earth does something as small as a leaf-hopper manages to propel itself upwards in one huge ping amazes me. If you feel them leave your fingertip, you actually get a recoil from it. I wonder how much pent up/stored energy that takes.
I wonder if anybody has worked out how fast they're travelling in that split second.

How far would a human jump given the same power?

[Pudding4brains]

Originally Posted by Wild-Woman

How far would a human jump given the same power?

According to Herber Nickel some species of Hopper (Philaenus spumarius) holds the world record for jumping height relative to body size - as well as records for being the most variably couloured and feeding on the largest number of possible host plants

[SilverW0lf]

Spooky!

I was just about to add that to Bruce's "Giant" froghopper thread...

I found a common froghopper on a blanket out in the garden yesterday and when I picked it up it stayed on my finger for a minute before "hopping" away, you do really feel the power of the recoil!

Some Froghopper info below... (to see the full article google National Geographic & froghopper)

Originally Posted by National Geographic Website

The froghopper is an insect that accelerates from the ground with a force that is 400 times greater than gravity. For the sake of comparison, we humans jump with a force that is two to three times that of gravity. they experience something like 400 g's,That's a lot. We pass out when we experience about 5 g's."

The insect world takes advantage of both designs. Crickets use the leverage provided by their long legs, fleas store energy to power their short legs, and grasshoppers combine features of each. Froghoppers, which have relatively short legs, catapult, said Burrows.

It has to store energy in advance of being able to jump and what it has is two huge muscles in its body," he said. "It invests 11 percent of its body mass in these two muscles."

These muscles, which power the rear legs, are located in the froghopper's chest. As the insect readies to leap, it tucks up and holds its rear legs in a cocked position on a ridge between one part of a hind leg and another. The rear legs stay locked in this position until the jumping muscles load up with enough energy to break the legs free from the ridge, launching the froghopper into the air, explained Burrows.

"When it has enough force it sort of snaps open and it does this incredibly fast," he said. In less than a millisecond, the leg extends and accelerates the body at speeds up to 13 feet (4 meters) per second. The process of loading up the jumping muscles takes just about a second and the release that sends the froghopper flying through the air happens in a millisecond.

[Pudding4brains]

Sorry, just noticed I missed a key when typing my previous post: The name, of course is Herbert not Herber

[Bruce Williams]

I have a theory that all froghoppers, leafhoppers and planthoppers are telepaths with a twisted sense of humour.

They watch you as you s-l-o-w-l-y approach them with your camera. They ignore you as you carefully position yourself to get best viewpoint. They seem totally unconcerned and unaware as you gently move the lens just the tiniest bit back and forth to obtain perfect focus. The shutter release button is already depressed half-way......waiting for that instant when focus is spot-on. THAT'S IT - NOW PRESS!

.........and "ping"........it's gone.......leaving you with another photo of an empty leaf and a tinkling "teeheehee" floating mockingly back to you on the wind................

Bruce

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by Bruce Williams

.........and "ping"........it's gone.......leaving you with another photo of an empty leaf and a tinkling "teeheehee" floating mockingly back to you on the wind................

Bruce

Lol
see-he's really Dr Dolittle folks!

That would make a brilliant cartoon.

[Jez]

I don't think I have quite the amount of patience, to be a wildlife photographer on this level! The same always happens when I go for Butterflies. I just give up in the end!

So credit to all of you who manage to capture the quality shots uploaded in the WAB gallery!

[Ukwildlifeo]

Originally Posted by Bruce Williams

I have a theory that all froghoppers, leafhoppers and planthoppers are telepaths with a twisted sense of humour.

They watch you as you s-l-o-w-l-y approach them with your camera. They ignore you as you carefully position yourself to get best viewpoint. They seem totally unconcerned and unaware as you gently move the lens just the tiniest bit back and forth to obtain perfect focus. The shutter release button is already depressed half-way......waiting for that instant when focus is spot-on. THAT'S IT - NOW PRESS!

.........and "ping"........it's gone.......leaving you with another photo of an empty leaf and a tinkling "teeheehee" floating mockingly back to you on the wind................

Bruce

thats just silly....hopper being able to do that. I mean they must have at least conspired with all the birds that fly off when you just get close enough and all the other animals that decide to come out or do something spectacular the moment they notice your camera is put away or at home


Going back to the hoppers, Ive often felt the pressure as the push off, its similar to a click beetle which I believe also uses a spring mechanism to leap into the air - yeta nother reason why invertebrates are more intersting than mear vertebrates

[Acutipuerilis]

I've been talking about the telepathic abilities of hoppers for a good while, now. It's true - they seem to sense exactly when it comes into focus, and ignore you until that point. And all I can add is that I wish they wouldn't.