Observations of shear adhesive force and friction of Blatta orientalis on different surfaces

Lepore, Emiliano; Brambilla, P.; Pero, Ana Carolina; Pugno, Nicola

doi:10.1007/s11012-013-9796-6

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…In the past few years, cockroaches (Blattodea) have become an accepted study object in the field of bioadhesion (e.g. Clemente and Federle, 2008 ; Clemente et al, 2009 ; Lepore et al, 2013 ; Gerhardt et al, 2015 , 2016 ; Betz et al, 2016 ), they possess large smooth adhesive pads and have shown good climbing performance in previous studies (e.g. Roth and Willis, 1952 ; Goldman et al, 2006 ; Clemente and Federle, 2008 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adhesion and friction of the smooth attachment system of the cockroachGromphadorhina portentosaand the influence of the application of fluid adhesives

et al. 2017

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Two different measurement techniques were applied to study the attachment of the smooth foot pads of the Madagascar hissing cockroach Gromphadorhina portentosa. The attachment of the non-manipulated adhesive organs was compared with that of manipulated ones (depletion or substitution by artificial secretions). From measurements of the friction on a centrifuge, it can be concluded that on nanorough surfaces, the insect appears to benefit from employing emulsions instead of pure oils to avoid excessive friction. Measurements performed with a nanotribometer on single attachment organs showed that, in the non-manipulated euplantulae, friction was clearly increased in the push direction, whereas the arolium of the fore tarsus showed higher friction in the pull direction. The surface of the euplantulae shows an imbricate appearance, whereupon the ledges face distally, which might contribute to the observed frictional anisotropy in the push direction. Upon depletion of the tarsal adhesion-mediating secretion or its replacement by oily fluids, in several cases, the anisotropic effect of the euplantula disappeared due to the decrease of friction forces in push-direction. In the euplantulae, adhesion was one to two orders of magnitude lower than friction. Whereas the tenacity was slightly decreased with depleted secretion, it was considerably increased after artificial application of oily liquids. In terms of adhesion, it is concluded that the semi-solid consistence of the natural adhesion-mediating secretion facilitates the detachment of the tarsus during locomotion. In terms of friction, on smooth to nanorough surfaces, the insects appear to benefit from employing emulsions instead of pure oils to avoid excessive friction forces, whereas on rougher surfaces the tarsal fluid rather functions in improving surface contact by keeping the cuticle compliable and compensating surface asperities of the substratum.

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