Tarsal structure and climbing ability of cockroaches

Roth, Louis M.; Willis, Edwin R.

doi:10.1002/jez.1401190307

Cited by 73 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…This discrepancy can be explained by the specific detachment movements of adhesive pads during locomotion [3,34,[39][40][41][42] and by the ability of insects to control adhesive contact area. Many insects make very little contact with their adhesive organs when walking upright and use their soft pads primarily while climbing when adhesive forces are required [16,34,41,43]. Even when pads are in surface contact, insects can control the size of the adhesive contact area.…”

Section: Secretion From a 'Sponge-like' Cuticlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is possible that insects minimize this loss by using only as much adhesive contact area as is necessary [33]. Freely running Phytolacca americana cockroaches were observed to deposit no visible footprints, while arolia and euplantulae manually placed on a substrate left 'greasy' imprints [34]. This suggests that insects are able to recover secretion after each step.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mechanisms of fluid production in smooth adhesive pads of insects

Dirks

Federle

2011

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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Insect adhesion is mediated by thin fluid films secreted into the contact zone. As the amount of fluid affects adhesive forces, a control of secretion appears probable. Here, we quantify for the first time the rate of fluid secretion in adhesive pads of cockroaches and stick insects. The volume of footprints deposited during consecutive press-downs decreased exponentially and approached a non-zero steady state, demonstrating the presence of a storage volume. We estimated its size and the influx rate into it from a simple compartmental model. Influx was independent of step frequency. Fluid-depleted pads recovered maximal footprint volumes within 15 min. Pads in stationary contact accumulated fluid along the perimeter of the contact zone. The initial fluid build-up slowed down, suggesting that flow is driven by negative Laplace pressure. Freely climbing stick insects left hardly any traceable footprints, suggesting that they save secretion by minimizing contact area or by recovering fluid during detachment. However, even the highest fluid production rates observed incur only small biosynthesis costs, representing less than 1 per cent of the resting metabolic rate. Our results show that fluid secretion in insect wet adhesive systems relies on simple physical principles, allowing for passive control of fluid volume within the contact zone.

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Section: Secretion From a 'Sponge-like' Cuticlementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms of fluid production in smooth adhesive pads of insects

Dirks

Federle

2011

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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“…In polyneopteran species, arolia and euplantulae have been described to be smooth, covered with protuberances or completely absent (figure 2) [2,[6][7][8][9][10][11]13,14,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][32][33][34]36,37]. Different outgrowths of tarsal adhesive pads have been previously described: nubs, acanthae, microtrichia and setae.…”

Section: (B) Attachment Structures In Polyneopteramentioning

confidence: 99%

Two functional types of attachment pads on a single foot in the Namibia bush cricketAcanthoproctus diadematus(Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)

et al. 2015

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Insects have developed different structures to adhere to surfaces. Most common are smooth and hairy attachment pads, while nubby pads have also been described for representatives of Mantophasmatodea, Phasmida and Plecoptera. Here we report on the unusual combination of nubby and smooth tarsal attachment structures in the !nara cricket Acanthoproctus diadematus. Their three proximal tarsal pads (euplantulae) have a nubby surface, whereas the most distal euplantula is rather smooth with a hexagonal ground pattern resembling that described for the great green bush-cricket Tettigonia viridissima. This is, to our knowledge, the first report on nubby euplantulae in Orthoptera and the co-occurrence of nubby and smooth euplantulae on a single tarsus in a polyneopteran species. When adhering upside down to a horizontal glass plate, A. diadematus attaches its nubby euplantulae less often, compared to situations in which the animal is hanging upright or head down on a vertical plate. We discuss possible reasons for this kind of clinging behaviour, such as morphological constrains, the different role of normal and shear forces in attachment enhancement of the nubby and smooth pads, ease of the detachment process, and adaptations to walking on cylindrical substrates.

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“…Insects are capable of adhering to many vertical and inverted surfaces with attachment mechanisms such as tarsal claws [18], capillary adhesion [7] and Van Der Waals adhesion [2]. An un-actuated clawed version of HAMR illustrates the possibility of rough vertical surface attachment (Fig.…”

Section: Attachmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some species of cockroach are capable of running at speeds up to 20 body lengths per second (Blaberus discoidalis) and even 40 body lengths per second (Periplaneta Americana) [8]. Cockroaches are known to maintain high speed ambulation across rough, uneven terrain [21] and provide further design inspiration with their ability to climb sheer vertical and even inverted surfaces [17]. Furthermore, they have efficient navigational aids such as antennae that allow obstacle avoidance even in low lighting [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Fabrication of the Harvard Ambulatory Micro-Robot

Baisch

Wood

2011

Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics

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Here we present the design and fabrication of a 90mg hexapedal microrobot with overall footprint dimensions of 17 mm long x 23 mm wide. Utilizing smart composite microstructure fabrication techniques, we combine composite materials and polymers to form articulated structures that assemble into an eight degree of freedom robot. Using thin foil shape memory alloy actuators and inspiration from biology we demonstrate the feasibility of manufacturing a robot with insect-like morphology and gait patterns. This work is a foundational step towards the creation of an insect-scale hexapod robot which will be robust both structurally and with respect to locomotion across a wide variety of terrains.

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Tarsal structure and climbing ability of cockroaches

Cited by 73 publications

References 16 publications

Mechanisms of fluid production in smooth adhesive pads of insects

Mechanisms of fluid production in smooth adhesive pads of insects

Two functional types of attachment pads on a single foot in the Namibia bush cricketAcanthoproctus diadematus(Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)

Design and Fabrication of the Harvard Ambulatory Micro-Robot

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