Biomimetics and bioinspired surfaces: from nature to theory and applications

• Rhainer Guillermo Ferreira,
• Thies H. Büscher,
• Manuela Rebora,
• Poramate Manoonpong,
• Zhendong Dai and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 418–421, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.32

• considerable long-life expectancy by Grote et al. [3] focused on the structure and performance changes of the adhesive system during aging. The attachment performance of these insects decreases with increasing age, and was shown to be related to changes of the attachment pads regarding their elasticity

Natural nanofibers embedded in the seed mucilage envelope: composite hydrogels with specific adhesive and frictional properties

• Agnieszka Kreitschitz and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1603–1618, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.126

• 14.03 N, and the maximal measured value belongs to the tendrils of Campsis radicans, namely, 25.18 N [142]. The sea grass (Posidonia oceanica) root hairs can also generate strong adhesion under sea water conditions [143][144][145]. Attachment pads or roots are special organs organised in clusters and

Functional morphology of cleaning devices in the damselfly Ischnura elegans (Odonata, Coenagrionidae)

• Silvana Piersanti,
• Gianandrea Salerno,
• Wencke Krings,
• Stanislav Gorb and
• Manuela Rebora

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1260–1272, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.102

• the tarsi and maintaining the adhesion of attachment pads [14][15][16]. Cleaning behavior plays an exceptionally important role in social insects like ants, for example, to guarantee precise nestmate/non-nestmate discrimination [17] or in mutual grooming [18]. Additionally, grooming plays a pivotal

The effect of age on the attachment ability of stick insects (Phasmatodea)

• Marie Grote,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Thies H. Büscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 867–883, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.72

• sign of ageing is the loss of locomotory functions due to neuronal disorders or tissue wear. Soft and pliable attachment pads on the tarsi of insects adapt to the substrate texture to maximize their real contact area and, thereby, generate attachment during locomotion. In the majority of stick insects

• extending over a larger time frame. Ageing effects on the morphology of the attachment pads and the autofluorescence of the cuticle were documented using light, scanning electron, and confocal laser scanning microscopy. The results show that both adhesion and friction forces decline with age. Deflation of

• area with the substrate. Keywords: adhesion; attachment pads; friction; locomotion; morphology; material properties; wear; Introduction Ageing inexorably affects most living organisms, does not exclude insects, and makes different organs or tissues susceptible to wear or fatigue of material [1

Comparative analysis of the ultrastructure and adhesive secretion pathways of different smooth attachment pads of the stick insect Medauroidea extradentata (Phasmatodea)

• Julian Thomas,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Thies H. Büscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 612–630, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.52

• long intrigued scientists, prompting extensive research on the functional morphology of attachment pads. In stick insects, attachment and locomotion are facilitated by two distinct types of smooth cuticular attachment pads: the primary adhesion force-generating arolium and the friction force-generating

• euplantulae. They are both supported by an adhesive secretion delivered into the interspace between the attachment pads and the substrate. In this study, we analysed and compared internal morphology, material composition and ultrastructure, as well as the transportation pathways in both adhesive organs in the

• stick insect Medauroidea extradentata using scanning electron microscopy, micro-computed tomography, light microscopy, and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Our observations revealed structural differences between both attachment pads, reflecting their distinct functionality. Furthermore, our results

Insect attachment on waxy plant surfaces: the effect of pad contamination by different waxes

• Elena V. Gorb and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 385–395, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.35

• centrifugal and pulling tests with some insect species bearing hairy attachment pads and mostly artificial substrates having different surface roughness. Insects showed several times higher attachment forces on both smooth and rather coarse microrough surfaces (>3 μm asperity size) compared to force values on

Physical constraints lead to parallel evolution of micro- and nanostructures of animal adhesive pads: a review

• Thies H. Büscher and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 725–743, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.57

• principles of attachment pads with a special focus on insects, describe micro- and nanostructures, surface patterns, origin of different pads and their evolution, discuss the material properties (elasticity, viscoelasticity, adhesion, friction) and basic physical forces contributing to adhesion, show the

• micro- and nanoscales at different phylogenetic levels, focus on insects as the largest animal group on earth, and subsequently zoom into the attachment pads of the stick and leaf insects (Phasmatodea) to explore convergent evolution of attachment pads at even smaller scales. Since convergent events

• extremely diverse, the design of attachment devices within insects can be subdivided into the two fundamental types of hairy and smooth attachment pads [1][3], as abovementioned, similarly at the level of the animal kingdom. In insects, the hairy structures consist of deformable adhesive setae, typically

Influence of ambient humidity on the attachment ability of ladybird beetles (Coccinella septempunctata)

• Lars Heepe,
• Jonas O. Wolff and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1322–1329, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.123

• against it. The tarsal secretions in hairy attachment pads of beetles were found to be mainly lipid-based [22][26][27][49][50], with only a small volatile fraction (likely water) [30]. Peisker et al. [46] speculated that these secretions may have an additional function, apart from forming capillary

• about where tarsal liquids are actually secreted and delivered in hairy attachment pads of beetles. Moreover, assuming capillarity to be responsible for the generated traction forces, it is not clear how the proposed increase in the viscoelastic bulk energy dissipation with increasing humidity should

Functional diversity of resilin in Arthropoda

• Jan Michels,
• Esther Appel and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1241–1259, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.115

• structures where this protein has a number of different functions, which include (1) the storage of elastic energy in jumping systems [15][16][17][18][19][20], (2) the reduction of fatigue in folding wings of beetles and dermapterans [21][22], (3) the enhancement of the adaptability of attachment pads to

Insect attachment on crystalline bioinspired wax surfaces formed by alkanes of varying chain lengths

• Elena Gorb,
• Sandro Böhm,
• Nadine Jacky,
• Louis-Philippe Maier,
• Kirstin Dening,
• Sasha Pechook,
• Boaz Pokroy and
• Stanislav Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1031–1041, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.116

• some types of trichomes, acting mainly at the macroscopic level, hinder the interlocking of insect claws. Additionally, plant-produced wet films on the surface, microscopic cuticular folds and epicuticular (deposited onto the plant cuticle) wax crystals reduce the adhesion of insect attachment pads

Hairy suckers: the surface microstructure and its possible functional significance in the Octopus vulgaris sucker

• Francesca Tramacere,
• Esther Appel,
• Barbara Mazzolai and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 561–565, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.66

• spatulate termini that are well known in the attachment pads of terrestrial animals [12][13]. In the case of the clingfish, it was hypothesised that the amazing tenacity observed for this fish could be related to the hierarchical structure of the hairs (“microvilli”) [3]. Moreover, the absence of spatulate

Impact of cell shape in hierarchically structured plant surfaces on the attachment of male Colorado potato beetles (Leptinotarsa decemlineata)

• Bettina Prüm,
• Robin Seidel,
• Holger Florian Bohn and
• Thomas Speck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 57–64, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.7

• development of biomimetic technical surfaces. Experimental Insects and plant species Beetles constitute the largest order within the class of insects, and their attachment pads are of the hairy type [28]. In the present study the Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) was

The effect of surface anisotropy in the slippery zone of Nepenthes alata pitchers on beetle attachment

• Elena V. Gorb and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 302–310, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.35

• epidermal cells due to the drying process. The tarsus of the C. septempunctata beetle ends distally with two ventrally curved claws having tip diameters of 3.7 ± 0.64 μm (N = 10, Figure 3). Attachment pads belong to the hairy type of locomotory organs in insects. Pads and types of adhesive setae in this