Here's a little bit of self-advertising ...
I am co-author of a book that has a whole chapter on animal catapults (as well as lots of other good stuff!):
The fabulous cover photograph was taken by David Maitland, an ex St Andrews student and now a professional wildlife photographer. He has also published research articles in the scientific press (he's the person who discovered jumping fruit fly larvae!)
This is a selected list of some important papers on the topic. It is thus personal and possibly prejudiced - e-mail me if you think something should be here which isn't.
The list is organised chronologically by topic.
Hill, A.V. (1950). The dimensions of animals and their
muscular dynamics. Sci. Prog. , Lond. 38, 209-300.
This describes the power limitations of muscles.
Brown, R.H.J. (1967). Mechanism of locust jumping. Nature (Lond.) 214,
939.
The first paper to describe how the lever ratios of the muscles
change with joint angle.
Heitler, W.J. (1974). The locust jump. Specialisations of the
metathoracic femoral-tibial joint. J. Comp. Physiol. 89, 93-104.
Points out the importance of the lump.
Bennet-Clark, H. C. (1975). The energetics of the jump of the locust Schistocerca
gregaria. J. exp. Biol. , 63, 53-83.
The key paper giving most of the energetic information.
Heitler, W.J. (1977). The locust jump: III. Structural specializiations of the metathoracic tibiae. J. exp. Biol. 67, 29-36.
Compares the anatomy of jumping and non-jumping legs, and shows how the former are specialized for jumping and kicking.
Burrows, M. & Morris, G. (2001). The kinematics and neural control of high-speed
kicking movements in the locust. J. exp. Biol., 204, 3471-3481.
Very
high-quality video stills of joint distortion showing details of energy storage
during kicking.
Sutton, G.P & Burrows, M. (2008) The mechanics of elevation control in locust jumping. J. comp. Physiol.A. 194, 557-563.
Show how jump elevation trajectory is controlled.
Godden, D.H. (1969). The neural basis for locust jumping. Amer. Zool., 9,
1139-1140.
Described the jump motor programme in outline.
Burrows, M. & Hoyle, G. (1973). Neural mechanisms underlying
behavior in the locust Schistocerca gregaria. I. Physiology of
identified motoneurons in the metathoracic ganglion. J. Neurobiol., 4,
3-41.
The first of a series of papers which laid the foundations for
detailed investigations of the locust nervous system.
Heitler, W.J. & Burrows, M. (1976). The locust jump: I. The motor
programme. J. exp. Biol. 66, 203-220.
First to give details of the jump motor programme, including the
underlying synaptic drive..
Heitler, W.J. & Burrows, M. (1976). The locust jump: II.The
neural circuits of the motor programme. J. exp. Biol. 66, 221-242.
Relates known circuits to the production of the motor programme.
Pearson, K.G., Heitler, W.J. & Steeves, J.D. (1980). Triggering
of the locust jump by multimodal inhibitory interneurones. J.
neurophysiol. 43, 257-278.
Identifies the M neuron as a crucial component of the trigger mechanism.
Heitler, W.J. & Braünig, P. (1988). The role of fast
extensor motor activity in the locust kick reconsidered. J. exp.
Biol. 136, 289-309.
Shows that the FETi-FlTi connexion is not essential for the motor programme.
Gynther I.C. & Pearson K.G. (1989). An evaluation of the role of
identified interneurons in triggering kicks and jumps in the locust.
J. Neurophysiol. 61, 45-57.
Clarifies the role of the M neuron.
Heitler, W.J. (1995). Quasi-reversible photo-axotomy used to
investigate the role of extensor muscle tension in controlling the
kick motor programme of grasshoppers. Eur. J. Neurosci., 7, 981-992.
Shows that fictive kicks can be produced with no extensor muscle
tension at all.
Burrows, M. (1995). Motor patterns during kicking movements in the
locust. J. Comp. Physiol. A 176, 289-305.
Gathers together in one paper a description of what most of the
motorneurons do during a kick. Very nice quality recordings.
Burrows, M. (1996). The neurobiology of an insect brain. Oxford University Press.
Simpson, S.J., Despland, E., Hägele, B.F. & Dodgson, T. (2001). Gregarious behavior in desert locusts is evoked by touching their back legs. PNAS 98, 3895-3897.
Anstey, M.L., Rogers, S.M., Ott, S.R, Burrows, M. & Simpson, S.J. (2009) Serotonin mediates behavioural gregarization underlying swarm formation in desert locusts. Science 323: 627-630.
Bennet-Clark, H.C. & Lucy, E.C.A. (1967). The jump of the flea: a study
of the energetics and a model of the mechanism. J. exp. Biol. 47, 59-76.
Flea jumping.
Burrows, M. (1969). The mechanics and neural control of the prey capture strike
of the mantid shrimps Squilla and Hemisquilla. Z. vergl. Physiol. 62, 361-391.
Mantid shrimp.
Burrows, M. (2003). Biomechanics: Froghopper insects leap to new heights. Nature 424, 509.
Show the extraordinary acceleration performance of these animals.
Burrows, M. (2006). Morphology and action of the hind leg joints controlling jumping in froghopper insects. J. exp. Biol. 209, 4622-4637.
Describes the "Velcro" locking mechanism (amonst a lot of other stuff).
Evans, M.E.G. (1973). The jump of the click beetle (Coleoptera:
Elateridae) - energetics and mechanics. J. Zool. Lond. 169, 181-194.
Click beetle.
Ritzmann, R. (1973). Snapping behavior of the shrimp Alpheus californiensis.
Science (NY) 181, 459-460.
Pistol shrimp
Maitland, D.P. (1992). Locomotion by jumping in the Mediterranean
fruit-fly larva Ceratitis capitata. Nature (Lond.) 355, 159-161.
A soft-bodied animal that jumps.
Gronenberg, W., Tautz, J. & Holldobler, B. (1993). Fast trap jaws
and giant neurons in the ant Odontomachus. Science (NY) 262,
561-563.
Ant's jaws
Caveney, S., McLean, H. & Surry, D. (1998). Faecal firing in a
skipper caterpillar is pressure-driven. J. exp. Biol. 201, 121-133.
Caterpillars that fire faeces.
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