SequentialMacro
Grasshopper Claw
Hey guys !
Ever since I got my grasshoppers a few years back to feed to my Geckos I noticed their amazing ability to climb up the glass on the vivarium and the slippery surfaces around the sides. I decided to take a closer look at their feet to see the structure aiding this amazing grip !
The two claws at the side of the middle section probably aid in griping surfaces with avaliable pores to hang on to. In looking at this SEM image of ones foot (Below) you can clearly see why their grip is so good. Like Geckos (Tokay), their middle section 'foot' contains many micro filaments, like microvilli if you will, that use a suction technique creating a vaccume like environment when the pore is pressed down onto a surface - like a plumb.
Hope you like it, may also get one of the underneath of the foot but this hopper was decaying long before I even found it in the cage unfortunately.
SEM of foot - www.google.co.uk/imgres?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&t...
Larger image - www.flickr.com/photos/sequentialmacro/8364497072/sizes/k/...
Facebook macro page - www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Francis-Priors-Macro-Photograph...
Grasshopper Claw
Hey guys !
Ever since I got my grasshoppers a few years back to feed to my Geckos I noticed their amazing ability to climb up the glass on the vivarium and the slippery surfaces around the sides. I decided to take a closer look at their feet to see the structure aiding this amazing grip !
The two claws at the side of the middle section probably aid in griping surfaces with avaliable pores to hang on to. In looking at this SEM image of ones foot (Below) you can clearly see why their grip is so good. Like Geckos (Tokay), their middle section 'foot' contains many micro filaments, like microvilli if you will, that use a suction technique creating a vaccume like environment when the pore is pressed down onto a surface - like a plumb.
Hope you like it, may also get one of the underneath of the foot but this hopper was decaying long before I even found it in the cage unfortunately.
SEM of foot - www.google.co.uk/imgres?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&t...
Larger image - www.flickr.com/photos/sequentialmacro/8364497072/sizes/k/...
Facebook macro page - www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Francis-Priors-Macro-Photograph...