BIO325H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Froghopper, Arthropod Leg, Elastomer
Document Summary
For jumping first the hind leg is flexed at all joints and latched in place by the interposing of two protrusions: one on the coxa and one on the femur. Latched in this way, the further rcontraction of the depressor is almost isometric" and stores energy in the sides of the animal"s thorax in right and left stiff cuticular ridges called pleural arches. = ~400g: the froghopper is the most powerful jumper known but it doesn"t just put energy into resilin. In this way all the stored energy is returned and the natural shape of the femur is restored rapidly so that a jump or kick can be repeated: locusts achieve power amplification with the deformable protein elastomer resilin. This material was first discovered in a locust (weis-fogh) as insect rubber". For each wing, resilinis situated in two distinct regions of the thoracic exoskeleton, 1) atop the pleural.
