Meniscus Climbing
We’ve all seen those small spiders that can walk on water.  Some of us have even marveled at animals that can run across small, exotic ponds on the Discovery Channel.  The waterlily leaf beetle larva can’t do either.  Or can it?  With a strong arch of its back this little bug has figured out a little bit of mother nature’s physics.  It uses the deformation of the water surface to create lateral capillary forces which can shoot the insect up the slick slope of the meniscus of a plant or structure in the water.  If you tried to run up the meniscus, it would be like trying to ice skate up the side of a swimming pool made of smooth ice - nearly impossible because of the lack of friction between the surface and your feet.  Instead, as seen in the photo, this bug makes its own meniscus which is attracted by surface tension to the other meniscus, thereby generating all of the force needed to climb this slope to safety.

Now that’s pretty cool.  I wish getting out of bed was this easy.

More info at mit.edu