Meniscus Climbing
To pass from the water surface to land, a water-walking insect must contend with the slope of the meniscus at the water's edge. Many such insects are unable to climb this meniscus using their usual propulsion mechanism.
David Hu and coworker John W. M. Bush have shown that such insects climb meniscuses by assuming a fixed body posture. This deforms the water surface and generates capillary forces that propels the insect up the slope without moving its appendages.
Hu and Bush conclude that meniscus climbing is an unusual means of propulsion in that the insect propels itself in a quasi-static configuration, without moving its appendages. Biolocomotion is generally characterized by the transfer of muscular strain energy to the kinetic and gravitational potential energy of the creature, and the kinetic energy of the suspending fluid. In contrast, meniscus climbing has a different energy pathway: by deforming the free surface, the insect converts muscular strain to the surface energy that powers its ascent.
Read more about this topic: Animal Locomotion On The Water Surface
Famous quotes containing the word climbing:
“One who pressed forward incessantly and never rested from his labors, who grew fast and made infinite demands on life, would always find himself in a new country or wilderness, and surrounded by the raw material of life. He would be climbing over the prostrate stems of primitive forest-trees.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)