Meniscus-climbing insects

David L. Hu and John W. M. Bush ()
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David L. Hu: MIT
John W. M. Bush: MIT

Nature, 2005, vol. 437, issue 7059, 733-736

Abstract: A slippery slope Insects that walk on water rely on surface tension to support their weight: when they need to take to dry land they face an obstacle, the slippery slopes of the meniscus at the water's edge. The water looks flat to us but to an insect a few millimetres long these menisci must look like frictionless mountains. A combined experimental and theoretical study reveals that meniscus-climbing insects exploit the capillary attraction between floating objects. The insects lock into a static posture, deforming the free surface so as to generate a lateral capillary force that propels them up the meniscus at peak speeds up to 30 body lengths per second. Meniscus-climbing is a unique means of propulsion in that it does not require that the creature move its appendages. On the cover a water treader (Mesovelia) climbs a meniscus from right to left. Cover photo by Lucy Mendel, David Hu and John Bush.

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/nature03995

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