Issus coleoptratus

Looking at this intricately patterned plant hopper, you wouldn't think that as a young instar it demonstrates something no other living species on earth is known to possess.

Mechanical gears.


Juveniles of the species have an intricate gearing system that locks their back legs together, allowing both appendages to rotate at the exact same instant, causing the tiny creatures to jump forward.

Any slight variation would send the insect in an unintended direction.

"The researchers’ high-speed videos showed that the creatures, who jump at speeds as high as 8.7 miles per hour, cocked their back legs in a jumping position, then pushed forward, with each moving within 30 microseconds (that’s 30 millionths of a second) of the other.

The finely toothed gears in their legs allow this to happen. “In Issus, the skeleton is used to solve a complex problem that the brain and nervous system can’t,” (Researcher Malcolm Burrows - Smithsonian magazine 2013)

However, as an adult, a different propulsion system is used