Given "when adhesive leg structures in real Drosophila are covered, animals exhibit atypical [and faster] bipod-like leg coordination," I wondered why those insects still preferred tripod gait.<p>The answer, from the paper's abstract:<p>"<i>We propose that the requirement to climb vertical terrain may drive the prevalence of the tripod gait over faster alternative gaits with minimal ground contact.</i>"<p><a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14494" rel="nofollow">http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14494</a>