Pulu, Tibi. Insect with "Mechanical Gears."

Pulu Tibi. "This insect is the first known creature gifted by nature with ‘mechanical gears.’" 25 September 2013. <http://www.zmescience.com/research/insect-issus-mechanical-biological-gears0423423/#QBZKAGoXIepQm0u6.99."

"The Issus coleoptratus or issus for short is a small hopping insect that can leap at tremendous speeds and lengths compared to its tiny size. Actually, it’s one of the fastest accelerating creatures known to biologists, capable of accelerating at nearly 400 g’s—a rate more than 20 times what a human body can withstand. To achieve this fascinating feat the issus performs a perfectly synchronized kick of his hind legs to propel it forward at dazzling speeds, and this perfect timing is made possible using a minuscule pair of interlocking teeth-like structures. The resemblance to a man-made mechanical gear is striking and as two UK researchers recently reported in a paper published in the journal Science, its working principle is similar as well."

The link to Science takes readers to Malcolm Burrows and Gregory Sutton's "Interacting Grears Synchronize Propulsive Leg Movements in a Jumping Insect," Science 13 September 2013: Vol. 341 no. 6151 pp. 1254-1256. Note both articles for such biomechanical creatures as the Aliens in the ALIEN movie series and the motif of the relationship between insects and mechanisms.

RDE & H. Golden, 14/I/14