关键词: 水生昆虫, 运动策略, 生态适应, 力学机制, 仿生设计

Abstract

Background: Aquatic insects have evolved diverse locomotion strategies through long-term adaptation to surface, underwater, and benthic environments. These strategies serve as important models for understanding environmental adaptation and biomechanical principles, and provide valuable biological inspiration for the design of biomimetic aquatic robots. However, existing research has largely focused on selected taxa or specific locomotion modes, and a systematic synthesis of locomotion strategies across different aquatic environments, together with a comparative perspective on their diversification among taxa, remains lacking. 

Aim: This review systematically summarizes the locomotion strategies of aquatic insects in different environments, analyzes the factors underlying their diversity, and evaluates their implications for biomimetic engineering. 

Progress: This review begins by systematically organizing the theoretical and technical foundations of aquatic insect locomotion research. It then summarizes, for surface, underwater, and benthic environments, the major locomotion strategies in terms of their types, structural correlates, dominant mechanisms, and functional outcomes. Next, it discusses four possible factors shaping the diversity of these strategies: environmental constraints, phylogenetic history, ecological functional demands, and collective behavioral features. As an illustrative example, the locomotion differentiation among Ephemeroptera nymphs is presented to show within‑lineage variation. Finally, the review assesses the biomimetic value, current technological applications, and principal challenges associated with these diverse strategies. 

Prospects: Future research should expand taxonomic and ecological coverage, deepen mechanistic understanding of poorly studied benthic locomotion involving fluid–solid coupling and granular media, and strengthen integration with biomimetic engineering. Preferential efforts should be directed toward the practical application of vortex, jetting, and rowing propulsion, while adhesion and burrowing mechanisms demand deeper fundamental inquiry. Advances in flexible materials, intelligent actuation, and autonomous control will enable multi-mode synergy and adaptive modulation, promoting a systematic framework that links environmental conditions, dominant mechanisms, and engineering functions for next-generation aquatic robots.

Key words: aquatic insects, locomotion strategies, ecological adaptation, mechanical mechanisms, biomimetic design