This Sharpshooter Insect Catapults Huge Blobs of Its Pee to Save Energy
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Loading... - Adam Harris
- 01 Mar 2023
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A new study outlines an incredible feat of projectile peeing discovered in an insect named for its quick-draw delivery of waste.
The tiny glassy-winged sharpshooter (Homalodisca vitripennis) is able to urinate at a velocity that's staggering for its 12 millimeter (half inch) body, flinging a bead of liquid at speeds of around 30 centimeters per second.
Based on a detailed analysis involving computer modeling and physical experiments, scientists think that the unusual way that these insects pee helps them conserve the precious little energy they absorb from the nutrient-poor plant fluids they feed from.
The research was sparked by observations made by Saad Bhamla, a biomolecular engineer from Georgia Institute of Technology in the US, who noticed the sharpshooter's peeing behavior in his backyard.
The insects excrete tiny droplets of pee from their rear ends, shooting them off at high speeds with the help of a stylus appendage that acts like a catapult.
"Little is known about the fluid dynamics of excretion, despite its impact on the morphology, energetics, and behavior of animals," says Bhamla.
"We wanted to see if this tiny insect had come up with any clever engineering or physics innovations in order to pee this way." Read More…
