Fig. 4: Energetics of superpropulsion and physical scaling.

a MicroCT scan of a GWSS revealing the morphology of their hindgut. Digested fluidic waste is excreted through the rectum into the narrow anal stylus before being ejected. b The hydrodynamics of excretion in sharpshooters is modeled as a pressure-driven flow across a cylindrical tube. Fluid exiting a nozzle forms a pendant droplet at low speeds (Bo > > 1 and We < 1) or jet when inertial forces are dominant (We > 1). c The pressure (Energy per unit fluid volume) exerted by sharpshooter insects increases proportionally to the speed of the exiting fluid and the orifice diameter. At their small scale, forming jets to expel their fluid waste is 4 × more energetically taxing than forming individual droplets and flicking them d Small organisms living in a surface tension-dominated world face the challenge of overcoming capillary adhesion. Ballistospores and sharpshooters exploit surface-tension properties (coalescence and superpropulsion) to eject droplets at high speeds. Error bars represent average value ± one standard deviation.