Slippery pores: anti-adhesive effect of nanoporous substrates on the beetle attachment system

Traction experiments with adult seven-spotted ladybird beetles Coccinella septempunctata (L.) were carried out to study the influence of surface structure on insect attachment. Force measurements were performed with tethered walking insects, both males and females, on five different substrates: (i)...

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Published inJournal of the Royal Society interface Vol. 7; no. 52; pp. 1571 - 1579
Main Authors Gorb, E. V., Hosoda, N., Miksch, C., Gorb, S. N.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England The Royal Society 06.11.2010
Subjects
Absorption
Adhesion
Adhesiveness
Animals
Attachment
Biomechanical Phenomena
Coccinella septempunctata
Coleoptera - anatomy & histology
Coleoptera - physiology
Female
Insect
Male
Nanopores - ultrastructure
Porosity
Roughness
Sex Characteristics
Sex Factors
Surface Properties
Walking - physiology
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Summary:Traction experiments with adult seven-spotted ladybird beetles Coccinella septempunctata (L.) were carried out to study the influence of surface structure on insect attachment. Force measurements were performed with tethered walking insects, both males and females, on five different substrates: (i) smooth glass plate, (ii) smooth solid Al2O3 (sapphire) disc, and (iii–v) porous Al2O3 discs (anodisc membranes) with the same pore diameter but different porosity. The traction force of beetles ranged from 0.16 to 16.59 mN in males and from 0.32 to 8.99 mN in females. In both sexes, the highest force values were obtained on smooth solid surfaces, where males showed higher forces than females. On all three porous substrates, forces were significantly reduced in both males and females, and the only difference within these surfaces was obtained between membranes with the highest and lowest porosity. Males produced essentially lower forces than females on porous samples. The reduction in insect attachment on anodisc membranes may be explained by (i) possible absorption of the secretion fluid from insect adhesive pads by porous media and/or (ii) the effect of surface roughness. Differences in attachment between males and females were probably caused by the sexual dimorphism in the terminal structure of adhesive setae.
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ISSN:1742-5689
1742-5662
DOI:10.1098/rsif.2010.0081