CAN GRASSHOPPERS JUMP IN WATER?
They live on roadsides or railroad embankments, in dry warm places with little to no rain. Studies show that grasshoppers definitively prefer to leap across dry areas rather than those that are wet and reflective. Because watery surfaces such as the sea offer them neither feeding nor landing possibilities. The grasshopper is actually well equipped for withstanding rain: The insect’s exoskeleton is covered with a water-repellent wax layer that blankets its body from the outside and prevents water from penetrating into the interior. However, they have no swimming ability whatsoever! They much prefer jumping—even out of the water. For such a jump, the arrangement of the flexor and extensor muscles of the hind legs is essential; these ensure a tremendous explosive force is released by way of a lever movement. This provides the grasshopper with so much thrust that it can jump up to 3 feet out of the water. Its relative, the pygmy mole cricket, can even spring up at up to 180 g—180 times gravitational acceleration. For comparison: A fighter jet manages 10 g, and a head-on collision with an automobile is 120 g. But despite all the record stunts: Back on land, the nimble grasshopper will quickly seek out and hop off to a dry spot…