Froghoppers Dubbed New Champion Leapers
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Froghoppers, tiny insects found in gardens and grasslands around the world, have been found to outperform fleas as nature’s high-jump champions.
The quarter-inch insects can soar to nearly 28 inches, exerting a force 400 times their body weight. “This little guy really can jump,” said professor Malcolm Burrows of the University of Cambridge in England, who reported his findings in the journal Nature. Fleas only exert a jumping force of 135 times their weight.
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