Thrips’ aquatic secrets

Some aquatic and semi-aquatic insects are adapted to climb the meniscus without difficulty, however, most terrestrial insects are unable to ascend this slippery slope. We discovered that Western Flower Thrips, which are millimeter-size flying insects, can effectively ascend the meniscus by arching their water-repellent bodies and performing spin maneuvers to gain a favorable climbing position. Furthermore, we demonstrated that thrips climbing performance vary inversely with fluid viscosity.

Reference
Ortega-Jiménez VM, Arriaga-Ramirez S, Dudley R. 2016. Meniscus ascent by thrips (Thysanoptera). Biol. Lett. 12: 20160279. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2016.0279