Author: Emily Conover / Source: Science News
Some sap-sucking insects can “make it rain,” flinging droplets of pee while feeding on plant juices.
Now scientists have explained how the insects, known as sharpshooters, create these sprays using tiny catapult-like structures that propel the waste at extreme accelerations.A tree infested with sharpshooters exudes a steady pitter-patter of pee. “It’s crazy just to look at,” says engineer Saad Bhamla of Georgia Tech in Atlanta. That intriguing process — which can dampen unsuspecting passersby — got Bhamla and colleagues hooked on studying how the insects release their waste.
The researchers took high-speed video of two species — the glassy-winged sharpshooter and the blue-green sharpshooter — feeding and then flinging their pee….
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