Wild Things: Life as We Know It
Caterpillars, Frogs, Big Birds and More...
- By T. A. Frail, Jesse Rhodes, Jessica Righthand, Brandon Springer and Sarah Zielinski
- Smithsonian magazine, October 2010
Tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta). This hornworm is found in the eastern half of the United States and southeastern Canada. (Kenneth H. Thomas / Photo Researchers, Inc.)
Caterpillars appear to walk in a wavelike motion that starts with their back legs and moves forward. But to the surprise of scientists from Tufts University and elsewhere, the insect gets going when it suddenly thrusts its innards forward; the rest of its body, 16 legs included, catches up like the end of a slinky. The scientists learned this from X-rays of hawkmoth caterpillars in action. They suggest that a similar mechanism—“gut sliding,” they call it—propels other caterpillars. It’s “unlike any form of legged locomotion previously recorded.”
Additional Sources
“Mechanical Analysis of Feeding Behavior in the Extinct ‘Terror Bird’ Andalgalornis steulleti (Gruiformes: Phorusrhacidae),” Federico J. Degrange et al., PLoS ONE, August 18, 2010
“Landing in basal frogs: evidence of saltational patterns in the evolution of anuran locomotion,” Richard L. Essner Jr. et al., Naturwissenschaften, July 13, 2010
“Apparent competition with an invasive plant hastens the extinction of an endangered lupine,” Emily M. Dangremond et al., Ecology, August 2010
“Visceral-Locomotory Pistoning in Crawling Caterpillars,” Michael A. Simon et al., Current Biology, August 24, 2010
“Frequency synchronization of blue whale calls near Pioneer Seamount,” Michael D. Hoffman et al., Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, July 2010
Comments (2)
Very nice Macro work
Posted by Steve on November 29,2010 | 06:19 PM
ok so scientists proved themselves wrong about caterpillars :O
Posted by BigDaddy24 on October 15,2010 | 04:26 PM