The fastest animal on the planet flips upside down in just a millisecond

The globose springtail (Dicyrtomina minuta) is an incredibly fast backflipper. Despite being just a few millimeters long, the species can leap up to 60 mm high and flip in just a millisecond, making it the fastest animal to do so, according to a team of researchers at North Carolina State University.

When springtails jump, they don't just jump and land, they also somersault in midair, explains Adrian Smith, an associate professor of biology at North Carolina State University.

The globose springtails neither fly nor bite, so they pose no threat. Their only defense against predators is to jump, and they do it extremely well, often disappearing from view in a split second. They jump so fast that they are blurred in regular camera shots.

Smith and colleagues used a camera recording at 40,000 frames per second to record their jumping movements, including their bounce speed, distance traveled, and landing pattern.

They discovered that the biology behind the impressive backflips is not legs but a special appendage called a furca that folds under the abdomen. This appendage has a small, forked tip that allows the beetle to perform a series of extremely fast backflips while jumping but has difficulty landing.

It takes just a millisecond for a globular springtail to turn upside down and reach a maximum rotation speed of 368 revolutions per second. In addition, this insect can also launch 60 mm into the air, dozens of times its body length.

According to researchers, their jumps are only used to quickly escape predators or other dangers they may encounter, not for movement.

Isabella Humphrey

Update 04 September 2024