How the short legs of juvenile water striders propel the insects across water has perplexed researchers. It now appears that walking on water shares features with the locomotion of birds, insects and fish.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
Fabrication of superhydrophobic AAO-Ag multilayer mimicking dragonfly wings
Chinese Science Bulletin Open Access 13 December 2012
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References
Hu, D. L., Chan, B. & Bush, J. W. M. Nature 424, 663–666 (2003).
Dickinson, M. H. et al. Science 288, 100–106 (2000).
Kokshaysky, N. V. Nature 279, 146–148 (1979).
Rayner, J. M. V. & Aldridge, H. D. J. J. Exp. Biol. 118, 247–265 (1985).
Brodsky, A. K. The Evolution of Insect Flight (Oxford Univ. Press, 1994).
Lauder, G. V. & Drucker, E. News Physiol. Sci. 17, 235–240 (2002).
Rayner, J. M. V. J. Fluid Mech. 91, 697–730 (1979).
Ellington, C. P. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 305, 115–144 (1984).
Denny, M. W. Air and Water: The Biology and Physics of Life's Media (Princeton Univ. Press, 1993).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dickinson, M. How to walk on water. Nature 424, 621–622 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/424621a
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/424621a
This article is cited by
-
Effect of surface residual stress and surface layer stiffness on mechanical properties of nanowires
Acta Mechanica (2022)
-
The physiological, structural, and behavioral adaptations of the “fore-mid” four-legged walking of the pygmy mole cricket Xya sichuanensis (Orthoptera: Tridactylidae)
Applied Entomology and Zoology (2022)
-
Analysis of the acid and alkali resistance of superhydrophobic paper mulch
Cellulose (2021)
-
FAR gene enables the brown planthopper to walk and jump on water in paddy field
Science China Life Sciences (2019)
-
Bio-inspired micro/mini propulsion at air-water interface: A review
Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology (2012)