Electron micrograph of housefly pulvilli, the finely hairy pads on their feet that enable them to stick to walls and ceilings
Arthropods, including insects and spiders, make use of smooth adhesive pads as well as hairy pads for climbing and locomotion along non-horizontal surfaces.[1][2][3] Both types of pads in insects make use of liquid secretions and are considered 'wet'.[3] Dry adhesive mechanisms primarily rely on Van der Waals' forces and are also used by organisms other than insects.[4] The fluid provides capillary and viscous adhesion and appears to be present in all insect adhesive pads.[5] Little is known about the chemical properties of the adhesive fluids and the ultrastructure of the fluid-producing cells is currently not extensively studied.[4] Additionally, both hairy and smooth types of adhesion have evolved separately numerous times in insects.[3][6] Few comparative studies between the two types of adhesion mechanisms have been done, and there is a lack of information regarding the forces that can be supported by these systems in insects.[3] Additionally, tree frogs and some mammals such as the arboreal possum and bats also make use of smooth adhesive pads.[1][2] The use of adhesive pads for locomotion across non-horizontal surfaces is a trait that evolved separately in different species, making it an example of convergent evolution.[7] The power of adhesion allows these organisms to be able to climb on almost any substance.[2]
The exact mechanisms of arthropod adhesion are still unknown for some species, but this topic is of great importance to biologists, physicists, and engineers.[2][3][7] These highly specialized structures are not restricted to one particular area of the leg. They may be located on different parts, such as claws, derivatives of the pretarsus, tarsal apex, tarsomeres or tibia.[6] From the scaling analysis, it has been suggested that animal lineages relying on the dry adhesion, such as lizards and spiders, have a higher density of terminal contact elements compared to systems that use wet adhesive mechanisms, such as insects.[6] Since these effects are based on fundamental physical principles and highly related to the shape of the structure, they are also the same for artificial surfaces with similar geometry.[6] Adhesion and friction forces per-unit-pad area were very similar in smooth and hairy systems when tested.[3] Strong adhesion may be beneficial in many situations, but it also can create difficulties in locomotion.[3] Direction-dependence is an important and fundamental property of adhesive structures that are able to rapidly and controllably adhere during locomotion.[3] Researchers are unsure whether direction-dependence is achieved through changes in contact area or through a change in shear stress.[3] Friction and adhesion forces in most animal attachment organs are higher when they are pulled towards the body than when they push away from it.[3] This has been observed in geckos and spiders but also in the smooth adhesive pads of ants, bush-crickets and cockroaches.[3] Adhesive hairs of geckos are non-symmetrical and feature distally pointing setae and spatulae that are able to generate increased friction and adhesion when aligned with a proximal pull.[3] The adhesive hairs of some beetles behave similarly to those of geckos.[3] While directional-dependence is present in other animals, it has yet to be confirmed in insects with hairy adhesive pads.[3]
It has been observed that a surface micro-roughness asperity size of less than five micrometres can strongly reduce insect attachment and climbing ability, and this adhesion reducing effect has been put to use in a variety of plant species that create wax crystals.[5]
Adhesive chemical secretions are also used for predation defence, mating, holding substrates, anchor eggs, building retreats, prey capture, and self-grooming.[4]
^ abBarnes, W. Jon. P. (2011). "Functional Morphology and Design Constraints of Smooth Adhesive Pads". MRS Bulletin. 32 (6): 479–485. doi:10.1557/mrs2007.81.
^ abcdDirks, Jan-Henning; Federle, Walter (2011). "Fluid-based adhesion in insects – principles and challenges". Soft Matter. 7 (23): 11047. Bibcode:2011SMat....711047D. doi:10.1039/C1SM06269G.
^ abcdefghijklmnBullock, J. M.; Drechsler, P.; Federle, W. (2008). "Comparison of smooth and hairy attachment pads in insects: friction, adhesion and mechanisms for direction-dependence". The Journal of Experimental Biology. 211 (20): 3333–3343. doi:10.1242/jeb.020941. PMID 18840668.
^ abcvon Byern, Janek; Grunwald, Ingo, eds. (2010). Biological Adhesive Systems: From Nature to Technical and Medical Application (1st ed.). Wien: Springer. ISBN 978-3-7091-0141-4.
^ abZhou, Y.; Robinson, A.; Steiner, U.; Federle, W. (2014). "Insect adhesion on rough surfaces: analysis of adhesive contact of smooth and hairy pads on transparent microstructured substrates". J. R. Soc. Interface. 11 (98): 20140499. doi:10.1098/rsif.2014.0499. PMC 4233698. PMID 24990289.
^ abcdGorb, Stanislav N; Sinha, Mitali; Peressadko, Andrei; Daltorio, Kathryn A; Quinn, Roger D (2007). "Insects did it first: a micropatterned adhesive tape for robotic applications". Bioinspiration & Biomimetics. 2 (4): S117–S125. Bibcode:2007BiBi....2..117G. doi:10.1088/1748-3182/2/4/S01. PMID 18037721. S2CID 6709383.
^ abRitzmann, Roy E.; Quinn, Roger D.; Fischer, Martin S. (2004). "Convergent evolution and locomotion through complex terrain by insects, vertebrates and robots". Arthropod Structure & Development. 33 (3): 361–379. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.94.4692. doi:10.1016/j.asd.2004.05.001. PMID 18089044.
and 29 Related for: Arthropod adhesion information
The power of adhesion allows these organisms to be able to climb on almost any substance. The exact mechanisms of arthropodadhesion are still unknown...
attachment of a substance to the surface of another substance. Note 1: Adhesion requires energy that can come from chemical and/or physical linkages, the...
The arthropod leg is a form of jointed appendage of arthropods, usually used for walking. Many of the terms used for arthropod leg segments (called podomeres)...
In 2015 commercial products inspired by this work were released. Arthropodadhesion Skibinski, Brian. "All Species". Geckolist.com. Retrieved June 3,...
around Japan. At around 3.7 meters, it has the largest leg-span of any arthropod. The Japanese name for this species is taka-ashi-gani, (Japanese: たかあしがに)...
Barnacles are arthropods of the subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea. They are related to crabs and lobsters, with similar nauplius larvae. Barnacles...
DSCAM and Dscam are both abbreviations for Down syndrome cell adhesion molecule. In humans, DSCAM refers to a gene that encodes one of several protein...
PMID 9435239. Hughes CL, Kaufman TC (2002). "Hox genes and the evolution of the arthropod body plan". Evolution & Development. 4 (6): 459–499. doi:10.1046/j.1525-142x...
of identical cells. These cells can form group organisms through cell adhesion. The individual members of a colony are capable of surviving on their own...
captures with its resin-tipped trichomes. After devouring the captured arthropods, bugs in the genus excrete waste, which the plant absorbs using glands...
(Detritivore). There are a few trace fossils, which resemble arthropod trails. Evidence suggests that arthropod-like organisms existed during the Precambrian. This...
be able to carry a virus but not competently transmit it. The vector arthropod acquires the virus while taking a blood meal from an infected host. In...
latter indicates that they belong to the Bilateria, along with chordates, arthropods, annelids and molluscs. Sea urchins are found in every ocean and in every...
minutes post-hatching in order to improve predation success and substrate adhesion. By clasping their secretion-coated forelegs around prey, escape is significantly...
insects and many arthropods located at base of their two claws. The hair that project from the ventral surface is the key for the adhesion abilities of these...
tissue is composed of closely packed cells, bound to each other by cell adhesion molecules, with little intercellular space. Epithelial cells can be squamous...
larva of the barnacle, whose sessile adults looked nothing like other arthropods; Linnaeus and Cuvier had classified them as molluscs. Darwin also noted...
discharge treatment of the surface to increase the energy and improve adhesion has been reported. PTFE is produced by free-radical polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene...
humans, animals, and plants. The genus Mycoplasma uses vertebrate and arthropod hosts. Dietary nitrogen availability has been shown to alter codon bias...
found widely in nature. They often arise by hydroxylation of phenols. Arthropod cuticle consists of chitin linked by a catechol moiety to protein. The...
receptor is not known but is thought to include sialic acid and junctional adhesion molecules (JAMs). The virus is partially uncoated by proteases in the endolysosome...
Calcium carbonate is the main compound of shell structure, aiding in adhesion. The word seashell is often used to mean only the shell of a marine mollusk...
nitrogen-containing side branches, increasing its strength. It is found in arthropod exoskeletons and in the cell walls of some fungi. It also has multiple...
0901377106. PMC 2656561. PMID 19289848. Craig, C. L. (1997). "Evolution of arthropod silks". Annual Review of Entomology. 42: 231–67. doi:10.1146/annurev.ento...
host cells. Examples of this are Dendritic Cell-Specific Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-3-Grabbing Non-Integrin (DC-SIGN), heparan sulfate (HS), or Non-Muscle...
populate the hemocoel, a blood-containing cavity between the organs of most arthropods. Bacteriocyte microorganism transfer occurs through vertical transmission...
Global Information