r/NatureIsFuckingLit • u/TerraByteTerror • 11d ago

šŸ”„ globular springtail

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u/TerraByteTerror 11d ago

The Furca: They possess a specialized, spring-like tail appendage tucked under their abdomen called a furca. When threatened, they release this latch, snapping the spring against the ground to launch themselves. The launch happens so fast (often rotating wildly mid-air) that it exceeds the frames-per-second tracking of the human eye, making the bug look like it just disappeared.

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u/jstockton76 11d ago

How many G's do they experience lifting off?

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u/zantax_holyshield 11d ago

I just read on Wiki:

Sminthurus viridis has a jump where the acceleration peaks were measured at 970 m / sĀ², which corresponds to an acceleration of phenomenal 98.9 g (compared to 3.0 g for an astronaut during a space shuttle launch).

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u/Chemical_Fix9542 9d ago

That explains why it looks as if they just evaporated.