Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Compressed resilin protein releases explosive energy to launch the flea. The figure is taken from Natural History Museum, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a animals fact?

Yes. It sits on the Animals shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Fleas launch into the air using elastic rubber pads

Compressed resilin protein releases explosive energy to launch the flea.

Fleas do not rely solely on muscle power to leap over fifty times their body length. Instead, muscle contractions compress pads of a hyper-elastic protein called resilin in their legs, which releases stored mechanical energy like a spring catapult in less than a millisecond.

Where this comes from

Natural History Museum

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

Go further

Nature & Animals trivia Reaction Time Test

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Tags: flea, insects, jumping

Fleas launch into the air using elastic rubber pads: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Compressed resilin protein releases explosive energy to launch the flea. The figure is taken from Natural History Museum, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a animals fact?: Yes. It sits on the Animals shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.