Raising a small army #mantis

First day at a new job in the evolutionary #biomechanics lab at @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social! We're studying how insect legs gear with size and environment on a @leverhulme.ac.uk grant. Our first subject is here already and I'm excited!

Ah, yes. "The" equation

New preprint, perfect reading for #SEBconference travel

We simulate how age-related changes to muscle affect point-to-point movement.

Reductions in force, velocity and activation independently reduce performance, but deactivation and stiffness interact!

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

#biomechanics

Mecopteran snoots are in the uncanny valley of cute and freaky

When you get an unexpected printer error, ask yourself: do you live with a three-year-old?

Golden-bloomed grey
longhorn #beetle (Agapanthia villosoviridesces). Unlike most longhorns, they develop inside herbaceous plants (Hertfordshire, UK)

'Professor Lew' showing off at the London Zoo on Sunday @zslofficial.bsky.social #amphibians #salamander

What's going on here?

So if G is too small, you lose work to external sources, and if G is too large, you run into force-velocity limits. To maximize velocity output, there's a theoretical optimum... and for more on that, see doi.org/10.1093/icb/... [8/9]

"But what about force-length properties?" you ask. In fact these make things *worse* for (a). Both limbs can only flex to the point where F(L)*G = mg, (where L is muscle length, G is MA). Since G is smaller in (a), it will hit this constraint at a smaller L, and so do less work. [4/9]

To do its maximum work, the muscle has to stretch to its maximum extent then contract maximally. Because (a) has lower mechanical advantage, the leg has to descend *farther* to stretch the muscle. So, it loses more energy to gravity during contraction.

Figure from doi.org/10.1093/icb/... [3/9]

Two stages of owlet moth found while gardening! #ukbugs

Fun problem: 2 mammals are identical except for limb extensors mechanical advantage (G)

Which jumps higher above standing?

Muscles have same force length properties. Ignore force velocity properties. Vertical forces only, external force is gravity

Poll to follow in the comments 👇🏻 #biomechanics

My Timor Shield Mantis for your timeline (Rhombodera kirbyi).

(See comments for test poll) 👇

Sometimes life smacks you in the head with an opportunity #mantis #behaviour

Really pleased with these #3dprinted vertebrae! Used them in lecture to show how zyapophyses allow lateral bending and flexion but limit extension and rotation. Great tool for #teaching #anatomy www.thingiverse.com/thing:4637241

Please help with my #Anatomy terminology! This is a limbless #lizard, what is the vertebra in red? Thought process: the one cranial is thoracic (b/c ribs), the one caudal is... well, caudal (b/c hemal arch) so the one in between must be Lumbar? 3D model: sketchfab.com/3d-models/bu...