Meeting Abstract
Meniscus climbing has been described and modelled for aquatic and semi-aquatic insects, but it had never been observed in small flying insects despite them often becoming trapped on water surfaces. We report that thrips (Order Thysanoptera) can ascend or descend a water meniscus by arching or straightening their bodies respectively. Using sucrose solutions with different concentrations we demonstrate that thrips’ climbing speed reduces with viscosity. The meniscus climbing abilities shown by thrips suggest that escaping from water surfaces may be a regular surviving strategy for small flying insects.
