Experimental and numerical investigations of Otala lactea 's shell–I. Quasi-static analysis

Rajabi, Hamed; Darvizeh, A.; Shafiei, A; Eshghi, Shahab; Khaheshi, Ali

doi:10.1016/j.jmbbm.2013.12.008

Cited by 17 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Thus, the geometry of an organism can modify the distribution of stress and reduce the concentration of stress to prevent mechanical failure (e.g. coiling mollusc shells in Rajabi et al, 2014). Because the Pachyrhynchus species have a peculiar dome-shaped thorax and abdomen and densely interlocked elytra, these oval architectures may equip these weevils with more robust bodies as a defence strategy against predators.…”

Section: Mechanical Mechanism Of Hardnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Too hard to swallow: A secret secondary defence of an aposematic insect

Wang

Huang

Tang

et al. 2017

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Anti-predator strategies are significant components of adaptation in prey species. Aposematic prey are expected to possess effective defences that have evolved simultaneously with their warning colours. This study tested the hypothesis of the defensive function and ecological significance of the hard body in aposematic weevils pioneered by Alfred Russel Wallace nearly 150 years ago. We used predation trials with tree lizards to assess the survivorship of 'hard' (mature) versus 'soft' (teneral) and 'clawed' (intact) versus 'clawless' (surgically removed) weevils. The ecological significance of the weevil's hard body was evaluated by assessing the hardness of the weevils, the local prey insects, and the bite forces of the lizard populations. The existence of toxins or deterrents in the weevil was examined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). All 'hard' weevils were instantly spat out after being bitten once and survived attacks by the lizards. In contrast, the 'soft' weevils were chewed and subsequently swallowed. The results were the same regardless of the presence or absence of the weevil's tarsal claws. The hardness of 'hard' weevils was significantly higher than the average hardness of other prey insects in the same habitat and the mean bite forces of the local lizards. The four candidate compounds of the weevil identified by GC-MS had no known toxic or repellent functions against vertebrates. These results reveal that the hardness of aposematic prey functions as an effective secondary defence, and they provide a framework for understanding the spatio-temporal interactions between vertebrate predators and aposematic insect prey.

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Section: Mechanical Mechanism Of Hardnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Too hard to swallow: A secret secondary defence of an aposematic insect

Wang

Huang

Tang

et al. 2017

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Biological materials, such as wood [1], bone [2], tooth enamel [3], mollusc shell [4,5], bird eggshell [6,7], etc., are known for their complex architecture. They consist of spatially arranged lamellae, structured at different levels of hierarchy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A simple, high-resolution, non-destructive method for determining the spatial gradient of the elastic modulus of insect cuticle

Eshghi¹,

Jafarpour

Darvizeh

et al. 2018

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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Nature has evolved structures with high load-carrying capacity and long-term durability. The principles underlying the functionality of such structures, if studied systematically, can inspire the design of more efficient engineering systems. An important step in this process is to characterize the material properties of the structure under investigation. However, direct mechanical measurements on small complex-shaped biological samples involve numerous technical challenges. To overcome these challenges, we developed a method for estimation of the elastic modulus of insect cuticle, the second most abundant biological composite in nature, through simple light microscopy. In brief, we established a quantitative link between the autofluorescence of different constituent materials of insect cuticle, and the resulting mechanical properties. This approach was verified using data on cuticular structures of three different insect species. The method presented in this study allows three-dimensional visualisation of the elastic modulus, which is impossible with any other available technique. This is especially important for precise finite-element modelling of cuticle, which is known to have spatially graded properties. Considering the simplicity, ease of implementation and high-resolution of the results, our method is a crucial step towards a better understanding of material-function relationships in insect cuticle, and can potentially be adapted for other graded biological materials.

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“…In addition, the orientation of the columella in the two species also differed (figure 2). The columella is the direction of high mechanical strength in the shell [26]. Hence, the shell will be able to sustain high mechanical loadings when the load is applied along the direction of the columella.…”

Section: Macroscopic and Phenotypic Divergencementioning

confidence: 99%

Structure–behaviour correlations between two genetically closely related snail species

Ferrand

Morii

2020

R. Soc. open sci.

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Species, through their structure and composition, have evolved to respond to environmental constraints. Predator-prey interactions are among environmental pressures that can lead to speciation, but it remains unclear how this pressure can be related to the material structure and performance. Recently, two land snails, Karaftohelix editha and Karaftohelix gainesi, were found to exhibit divergent phenotypes and responses to predation despite sharing the same habitat and most of their genome. Indeed, under attack from a beetle, K. editha snails retract into their shell whereas K. gainesi snails swing their shell. In this paper, we looked at the microstructure, composition, morphology and mechanics of the shells of those two species and discuss potential relationships between material structure and the snail defence behaviour. The results of this study provide additional arguments for the role of predator-prey interactions on speciation, as well as an unusual approach for the design of biomimetic structures adapted to a particular function.

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Experimental and numerical investigations of Otala lactea 's shell–I. Quasi-static analysis

Cited by 17 publications

References 29 publications

Too hard to swallow: A secret secondary defence of an aposematic insect

Too hard to swallow: A secret secondary defence of an aposematic insect

A simple, high-resolution, non-destructive method for determining the spatial gradient of the elastic modulus of insect cuticle

Structure–behaviour correlations between two genetically closely related snail species

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