Numerous studies deal with insect attachment onto surfaces with different roughness; however, little is known about insect attachment onto surfaces that have different chemistry. In the present study, we describe the attachment structures of the water-lily leaf beetle Galerucella nymphaeae and test the hypothesis that the larval and adult stages generate the strongest attachment on surfaces with contact angles that are similar to those of leaves of their host plants. The larvae bear a smooth attachment system with arolium-like structures at their legs and a pygopodium at the abdomen tip. Adults have pointed setae on the ventral side of the two proximal tarsomeres and densely arranged spatula-shaped ones on their third tarsomere. In a centrifugal force tester, larvae and adults attained the highest friction forces and safety factors on surfaces with a water contact angle of 83 deg compared to those of 6, 26 and 109 deg. This comes close to the contact angle of their host plant Nuphar lutea (86 deg). The similarity in larval and adult performances might be a result of the similar chemical composition of their attachment fluid. We compare our findings with previous studies on the forces that insects generate on surfaces with different surface energies.
This article presents the empirical results of a study of strategic change in 291 organisations operating in New Zealand food supply chains. Firms in food-related businesses have been increasingly responsive to changing customer demands and competitive pressures and have introduced substantial product and process changes. This research considers firm-internal and supply chain relationship characteristics as the cause of strategic change. Using structural equation modelling, significant relationships between firm resources and strategic change were sought. Multi-group analyses were used to identify moderating effects of supplier and customer collaboration. The results indicate that resources have an effect on product and process changes. Supplier and customer collaboration were not found to have any moderating effects. The results have important implications for both supply chains and firms in terms of strategic change and the benefits of supplier and customer collaboration.
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