Champion by Enmos

Photography • Macro • posted on Jun 23, 2005

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Description

Thanks for viewing !! :o) - A kind of Froghopper (family: Cercopdiae). Bodylength: 4 - 5 mm I cant find what species exactly, probably cos its inbetween its nymph stage and adulthood... notice the little wings on the sides. When fully grown the wings will reach beyond its rear-end. - An interesting fact about froghoppers (Philaenus spumarius in particular): Froghoppers, tiny insects found in gardens and grasslands around the world, have overtaken fleas to become nature's new high-jump champions. The 6 mm insects, Philaenus spumarius but also known as spittle bugs, can jump to 700 mm - exerting a force 400 times their body weight. This is equivalent to an average-sized human leaping over a 210-metre skyscraper. The feat far surpasses fleas, who exert 135 times, and humans, who use a force two or three times their weight, report researchers in today's issue of the journal, Nature. "This little guy really can jump," said Professor Malcolm Burrows of Britain's University of Cambridge, author of the study. "It outperforms the previous recognised champions which have always been fleas." Unlike frogs, kangaroos and other animals with long legs that use leverage to lift off, froghoppers have short legs and rely on a natural catapult mechanism. In making their prodigious leaps, the bugs accelerate at more than 400 times the force of gravity. "It means you have to store up force in advance of the movement ... and then let go of it very rapidly. Then you deliver all the force you have stored up very quickly," said Burrows. He discovered the unique ability of froghoppers by chance. While teaching students on a field course, he noticed the froghopper jumping and captured the action with a high-speed video camera that takes pictures at 2,000 frames a second. "They are the champions," he said. "The amazing thing is that they were sitting on everyone's doorstep but no one ever measured them." Source: ABC Online - News in Science - Thanks for all your wonderful comments on my last upload, "Heat Victim [might be unsettling]" !! -- Many thanks, Jeroen

Comments (52)

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nathalie06

2:24PM | Thu, 23 June 2005

Ciao Jeroen. Fantastic macro of this small alien... Never seen a froghopper before too... that's what I like in RR, we always learn something on the photographs of the friends. Colors are incredible.

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Akinom

2:58PM | Thu, 23 June 2005

It's truly amazing... your shot as well as the shape of this bug! Bravo, Jeroen!

pimbotin

3:40PM | Thu, 23 June 2005

Well, paragliding guys don't jump. But when we enter in a thermal, we can go up more than 1000 times our average size, so... Exellent shot and notes! I love!

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GiMi53

6:19PM | Thu, 23 June 2005

I can't believe how sharp this image is... Thank you so much Jeroen for showing us the Nature at its best... :~)

kennyliu

6:21PM | Thu, 23 June 2005

Lovely details and color!

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watapki66

8:41PM | Thu, 23 June 2005

Excellent macro!

tvernuccio

9:30PM | Thu, 23 June 2005

W O W !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG look at the detail on his back!!!!! It's like a beautifully carved and painted shield!!!!! He's magnificent...and so is your capture!!!! And i'm so impressed by his FEATS!!!!!!! Fantastic!!!!

Masema

11:48PM | Thu, 23 June 2005

Very interesting and facinating info...and not quite as ugly as fleas (I hate fleas). Awesome shot too, perfect lighting.

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Punaguy

12:46AM | Fri, 24 June 2005

You bring so many interesting insects to the table here~ I am so impressed how you present each and every one! Such a clean shot here, thanks so much for the interesting info on each one! Aloha~

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nongo

1:37AM | Fri, 24 June 2005

Kind-a prehistoric looking, like a trilobite??? excellent image!!!! beautifully captured!!!!

Michelle A.

6:15AM | Fri, 24 June 2005

Superb.... very alien like insect .....

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Cosme..D..Churruca

7:27AM | Fri, 24 June 2005

Alucinante the perfection in this macro... fabulous !

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EricSBauer

8:36AM | Fri, 24 June 2005

i can't say that i've ever encountered a bug like this... see that, your pics are not only pleasing on the eye but educational as well...heh heh!!! fantastic capture!!!!

jimry

1:16PM | Fri, 24 June 2005

A champion it seems it is...lovely find jeroen and another stunner :)

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marybelgium

4:18PM | Fri, 24 June 2005

another fantastic capture ! Bravo !

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tizjezzme

7:56PM | Fri, 24 June 2005

Mmmmmm, the cream filled kind :-P I dont know, that's just what came to my mind when I saw this.. LOL (From Lion King). GREAT shot! :)))

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maggiemai

9:37PM | Fri, 24 June 2005

Wow...this is soooo Excellent Enmos! I think I have seen these little froghoppers but because they are so small I just never knew what they Really looked like! He has a beautifully embossed shield on his back.. it is so artistic and just amazes me! More and more your bugs remind me of the Knights of the Round Table. lol I wonder if they got their ideas for Armor Design from the insect world? EXCELLENT and VOTE*

Pierre59

5:26AM | Sat, 25 June 2005

Excellente macro, bravo !!!

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Margana

12:10PM | Sat, 25 June 2005

Wow.Cool shot and interesting info.What an unusual looking insect.Thanks Jeroen.I always enjoy your posts.

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jcv2

7:28AM | Sun, 26 June 2005

So closeby and still unknown... Makes me remind of the BBC-program 'The Shack' where they tried to find out how a fly lands on a ceiling; it was a hard thing to find out how a fly did do that! Excellent work, Jeroen!

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