Saturday 13 April 2019

zoology - If an insect becomes upside down, do they have mechanisms to turn themselves right side up?



This question is mainly applicable to beetle's and cockroaches. If I flip them so their legs point upward, they usually squirm around and wiggle trying to come back upright. Sometimes they succeed, and turn right side up again; sometimes they don't. Do insects have any built in mechanisms to unflip themselves.


I was unable to find any sources, but I believe they should, since insects climb stuff, and they may land inverted if they fall, so a mechanism might've been evolved to unflip themselves.



Answer



Well, many insects have developed ways to right themselves when they get turned over.


One of the more interesting families are the Elateridae, or click beetles: so named because they press their prosternum and mesosternum against each other which causes pressure. That pressure is eventually released causing a "clicking" sound and springing the insect upward (or away from predators).


https://thumbs.gfycat.com/EllipticalWeeIchthyosaurs-size_restricted.gif


You can see an additional video of a click beetle doing so here.


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