Gears are ubiquitous in the man-made world, found in items ranging from wristwatches to car engines, but it seems that nature invented them first. A species of plant-hopping insect, Issus coleoptratus ...

This planthopper can jump fast, far, and repeatedly. How does it manage to jump so well? Biologists decided to find out — and they realized that this insect has literal interlocking gears in its legs.