Thin Liquid Film Allow Adhesion

Biological Strategy

Colorado potato beetle

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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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Tarsal structures of beetles adhere to plant surfaces by secreting lipids that are liquid at normal temperatures.

The Colorado potato beetle must defy gravity when climbing up vertical stems of its host plant. It solves this challenge with the help of specialized tarsal structures coated with a thin film of liquid wax similar to the protective wax on other parts of the beetle’s body that keep it properly hydrated. The protective wax is solid at ambient temperatures to form a more stable coating, but liquid on the adhesive structures to more effectively interact with the climbing surface.

Last Updated August 23, 2016

References

Journal article

Interaction of liquid epicuticular hydrocarbons and tarsal adhesive secretion in Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

J Comp Physiol A | 01/04/2010 | Stefanie F. Geiselhardt, Stefan Lamm, Claudia Gack, Klaus Peschke

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Reference

Journal article

Congruence of epicuticular hydrocarbons and tarsal secretions as a principle in beetles

Chemoecology | 16/04/2011 | Stefanie F. Geiselhardt, Sven Geiselhardt, Klaus Peschke

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