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Geared-Up Bug: The Issus

  • February 11, 2014
  • By KIDS DISCOVER

The first working gears ever found on a living creature belong to the  issus, a planthopper whose hind-leg gears help it leap super far and fast (up to 8 mph) — probably to escape danger. The gears keep the bug’s legs in sync so it doesn’t spin out of control, but they disappear by adulthood.

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