Secretion Attaches Eggs

a large emperor gum moth with light orange wings rests on grass

Biological Strategy

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Attach Temporarily

Living systems must sometimes, temporarily, stay in one place, climb or otherwise move around, or hold things together. This entails attaching temporarily with the ability to release, which minimizes energy and material use. Some living systems repeatedly attach, detach, and reattach for an extended time, such as over their lifetimes. Despite being temporary, these attachments must withstand physical and other forces until they have achieved their purpose. Therefore, living systems have adapted attachment mechanisms optimized for the amount of time or number of times they must be used. An example is the gecko, which climbs walls by attaching its toes for less than a second. Other examples include insects that attach their eggs to a leaf until they hatch, and insects whose wings temporarily attach during flight but separate after landing.

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Insects

Class Insecta (“an insect”): Flies, ants, beetles, cockroaches, fleas, dragonflies

Insects are the most abundant arthropods—they make up 90% of the animals in the phylum. They’re found everywhere on earth except the deep ocean, and scientists estimate there are millions of insects not yet described. Most live on land, but many live in freshwater or saltwater marshes for part of their life cycles. Insects have three distinct body sections: a head, which has specialized mouthparts, a thorax, which has jointed legs, and an abdomen. They have well-developed nervous and sensory systems, and are the only invertebrate that can fly, thanks to their lightweight exoskeletons and small size.

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Eggs of the saturniid gum moth attach using a protein-based secretion that sets to form a highly elastic hydrogel.

“Biochemical and electrophoretic screening of 29 adhesive secretions from Australian insects identified six types that appeared to consist largely of . Most were involved in terrestrial egg attachment…The strongest (1–2 MPa) was an egg attachment glue produced by saturniid gum moths of the genus Opodiphthera. ” (Li 2008:85)

“[W]e focused on the protein-based egg attachment glue produced by saturniid gum moths of the genus Opodiphthera. Stored as a treacle-like liquid in the accessory reproductive (colleterial gland) reservoirs of gravid females, the viscous fluid sets quickly to form a highly elastic hydrogel that binds newly laid eggs to the substratum and, in some circumstances, to each other. For the 7–10-day interval that normally separates the laying and hatching of eggs, the attachment glue must withstand environmental insults such as heat, wind and rain…The macroscopic properties of this material could make it an attractive target for biotechnological mimicry and subsequent commercial exploitation.” (Li 2008:86)

Last Updated August 18, 2016

References

Journal article

Proteinaceous adhesive secretions from insects, and in particular the egg attachment glue of Opodiphthera sp. moths

Li D; Huson MG; Graham LD

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