TY - JOUR
T1 - Defense by foot adhesion in a chrysomelid beetle (Hemisphaerota cyanea)
T2 - Characterization of the adhesive oil
AU - Attygalle, Athula B.
AU - Aneshansley, Daniel J.
AU - Meinwald, Jerrold
AU - Eisner, Thomas
PY - 2000
Y1 - 2000
N2 - The beetle Hemisphaerota cyanea, when disturbed, secures a tight foothold on the substrate, whereby it is able to resist pulls of upward of 200 times its body mass. The grip is mediated by thin film adhesion, through use of an oil, which wets the contact pads at the tips of the 60,000 tarsal bristles of the beetle. We have found the oil to consist of a mixture of C22 to C29 n-alkanes and n-alkenes, providing additional support for the notion that tarsal oils are mixtures reflective of the general cuticular hydrocarbon output of insects.
AB - The beetle Hemisphaerota cyanea, when disturbed, secures a tight foothold on the substrate, whereby it is able to resist pulls of upward of 200 times its body mass. The grip is mediated by thin film adhesion, through use of an oil, which wets the contact pads at the tips of the 60,000 tarsal bristles of the beetle. We have found the oil to consist of a mixture of C22 to C29 n-alkanes and n-alkenes, providing additional support for the notion that tarsal oils are mixtures reflective of the general cuticular hydrocarbon output of insects.
KW - Alkanes
KW - Alkenes
KW - Coleoptera
KW - Cuticular hydrocarbons
KW - Insect locomotion
KW - Tarsal adhesion
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0034363478&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0034363478&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0034363478
SN - 0944-2006
VL - 103
SP - 1
EP - 6
JO - Zoology
JF - Zoology
IS - 1-2
ER -