Amazing Jumping Plant Lice That Can Flip Their Bodies In the Air at a Remarkably Fast Rate When Startled

Dr. Adrian Smith of Ant Lab, who is also a scientist at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, explained how jumping plant lice, known as psyllid, may look like typical garden pests but they have a remarkable ability not seen in any other insects. When faced with having to make a quick escape, the psyllid is able to flip its body at a remarkably fast rate. Smith measured the flip rate to be anywhere from an incredible 212 flips per second to 389 flips per second.

There’s a type of common little plant-feeding insect, called jumping plant lice, that do the most spectacular thing when they are spooked: launch themselves front-flipping into the air doing 389 flips per second! They haven’t been filmed in much detail before, so I spent a lot of time filming them in slow-motion, macro detail because people should know how awesome these bugs that might be in their backyard are.

submitted via Laughing Squid Tips