Data from: Escape jumping by three age-classes of water striders from smooth, wavy and bubbling water surfaces

Surface roughness is a ubiquitous phenomenon in both oceanic and terrestrial waters. For insects that live at the air-water interface, such as water striders, non-linear and multi-scale perturbations produce dynamic surface deformations which may impair locomotion. We studied escape jumps of adults, juveniles, and first-instar larvae of the water strider Aquarius remigis on smooth, wave-dominated, and bubble-dominated water surfaces. Effects of substrate on takeoff jumps were substantial, with significant reductions in take-off angles, peak translational speeds, attained heights, and power expenditure on more perturbed water surfaces. Age effects were similarly pronounced, with the first-instar larvae experiencing the greatest degradation in performance; age-by-treatment effects were also significant for many kinematic variables. Although commonplace in nature, perturbed water surfaces thus have significant and age-dependent effects on water strider locomotion, and on behavior more generally of surface-dwelling insects.

表面粗糙度是海洋与陆地水域中普遍存在的现象。对于栖息于气水界面的昆虫（如水黾（water strider））而言，非线性多尺度扰动会引发动态水面形变，进而损害其运动能力。我们针对泽黾（Aquarius remigis）的成虫、若虫以及一龄幼虫，在光滑、以波浪为主以及以气泡为主的三种水面环境下，开展了其逃逸跳跃行为的相关研究。水面基底对逃逸起跳行为的影响极为显著：在扰动更强的水面环境中，起跳角度、峰值平动速度、最大跃起高度以及能量消耗均出现了显著下降。年龄相关的影响同样显著，其中一龄幼虫的运动性能衰减最为严重；此外，年龄与处理条件的交互效应在诸多运动学变量上也表现出统计学显著性。尽管扰动水面在自然界中极为常见，但这类水面会对水黾的运动能力以及表面栖息昆虫的整体行为产生显著且依赖于年龄的影响。