Biomimetics on the micro- and nanoscale – The 25th anniversary of the lotus effect

• Matthias Mail,
• Kerstin Koch,
• Thomas Speck,
• William M. Megill and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 850–856, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.69

• treatment on the elastic modulus of locust cuticle obtained by nanoindentation”, investigate the mechanical properties of the cuticle that builds the surface of insects and related groups of animals. The cuticle is one of the most abundant, but least studied biological composites. In their study, the

Effect of sample treatment on the elastic modulus of locust cuticle obtained by nanoindentation

• Chuchu Li,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Hamed Rajabi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 404–410, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.33

• : biomimetics; cuticle; locust; material properties; mechanical testing; nanoindentation; water content; Introduction Cuticle is a lightweight material that forms the whole exoskeleton of insects, from the flexible intersegmental membrane to the stiff jaws and claws. Cuticle of each insect body part has

• glutaraldehyde as well as freezing and desiccating them. The authors tested the differently treated samples by three-point-bending tests and found that all the treatments, except for freezing, significantly affect the elastic modulus of fresh locust tibial cuticle [9]. A recent study suggests that, in addition

• cuticle of desert locust, a well-established model species in studies of insect cuticle. We used nanoindentation as the testing method because it is one of the most widely used experimental approaches for measuring cuticle properties. Furthermore, unlike most macromechanical testing methods, the

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

• locust Locusta migratoria [129][132] adapt to the microscale roughness. However, the latter species has a lower adaptability to the surface roughness because of the much thicker superficial film than that of the previous species. In smooth pads, film terminating fibres, which are sometimes of an extreme

• ], Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol., vol. 32, by W. G. Vötsch; R. Nicholson; Y.–D. Müller; S. Stierhof; S. N. Gorb; U. Schwarz, “Chemical composition of the attachment pad secretion of the locust Locusta migratoria”, pages 1605–1613, Copyright (2002), with permission from Elsevier. This content is not subject to

Structural and tribometric characterization of biomimetically inspired synthetic "insect adhesives"

• Matthias W. Speidel,
• Malte Kleemeier,
• Andreas Hartwig,
• Klaus Rischka,
• Angelika Ellermann,
• Rolf Daniels and
• Oliver Betz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 45–63, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.6

• analyses of the tarsal adhesives of the locust Schistocerca gregarina [15] and the Madagascan hissing cockroach Gromphadorrhina portentosa [16][17] have confirmed that the lipoid phase of their adhesives consists of n-alkanes (in the range of C23–C49 in S. gregaria and C27–C34 in G. portentosa), internally

• performed analyses [15][18] have confirmed the presence of polysaccharides, peptides and (glycosylated) proteins in the adhesive secretion of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria and the Madagascan hissing cockroach Gromphadorhina portentosa and have thus confirmed previous assumptions of Vötsch et al

Biomechanics of selected arborescent and shrubby monocotyledons

• Tom Masselter,
• Tobias Haushahn,
• Samuel Fink and
• Thomas Speck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1602–1619, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.154

• plants. The Young’s modulus in D. marginata increases linearly with density for both primary and secondary tissues. This general trend is also known for bamboo [2][26] and wood [27], though a linearity of the correlation – as found in D. marginata – was only found in older stems of the black locust

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

• elastomeric proteins existing in arthropods. The first description of resilin, which has often been called rubber-like protein, was based on analyses of three different insect exoskeleton elements: the wing hinge and the prealar arm of the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) (also described for the

• migratory locust (Locusta migratoria), Figure 1A,B) and the so-called elastic tendon of the pleuro-subalar muscles in dragonflies of the genus Aeshna [2]. Additional insights into the characteristics of resilin that had been gained shortly after this description [3][4] resulted in a comprehensive

• polybutadiene [13][14]. Fully hydrated resilin has a rather low stiffness. In the elastic tendons of dragonflies and locust ligaments mentioned above, it was found to have a Young’s modulus of 0.6–0.7 MPa and 0.9 MPa, respectively [11]. In addition, fully hydrated resilin can be stretched to more than three