Comparison of smooth and hairy attachment pads in insects: friction,adhesion and mechanisms for direction-dependence
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SUMMARY: Adhesive pads on the legs of animals can be classified as either `smooth'or `hairy' (fibrillar). It has been proposed that the hairy design conveys superior and controllable adhesion. However, no study has yet compared the basic performance of both systems. As such, we measured single-pad friction and adhesion forces in sample hairy (Gastrophysa viridula) and smooth(Carausius morosus) pads and simultaneously recorded contact area. Adhesion and friction forces per unit pad area were very similar in smooth and hairy systems. Insect pads of both types adhere via a thin film of liquid secretion. As found previously for the smooth system, forces in the fibrillar system strongly decreased with larger amounts of fluid secretion present, suggesting that the fluid mainly serves to maximize contact on rough substrates. One essential prerequisite for the control of surface attachment during locomotion is the direction-dependence of adhesive pads. We compared the mechanisms of direction-dependence in smooth and hairy systems by performing proximal and distal slides. Both types of pad exhibited a large drop in friction when moved away from the body, although this effect was more extreme for the hairy system. Direction-dependence is explained in both smooth and fibrillar systems by the instability of the tarsal chain, causing the whole pad to peel off. In the fibrillar pads, anisotropy additionally arises from the direction-dependence of individual setae.
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The global organization of the fly's nervous system resembles that of vertebrates yet it can be examined at the synaptic level using connectomes of the whole brain and VNC.
“The global organization of the fly's nervous system resembles that of vertebrates 35,36 yet it can be examined at the synaptic level using connectomes-synapse-resolution neural wiring diagrams-of the whole brain 37 and VNC 38,39 .”
From NeuroMechFly v2: simulating embodied sensorimotor control in adult Drosophila (2024) · cites this paper as [36]
The Introduction (page unavailable) describes a study of friction and adhesion in insect attachment pads. Searches for fly–vertebrate nervous-system similarities and whole-brain or VNC connectomes found no passage addressing either point. The claim therefore cannot be verified from our copy of this paper. (LLM, conf=0.76)
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“, 2006b; Federle, 2006), self-cleaning properties (Hansen and Autumn, 2005) and increased adhesion due to contact splitting (Arzt et al.”
BackgroundDrechsler, P., & Federle, W. (2006) · Journal of Comparative Physiology A · doi:10.1007/s00359-006-0150-5 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
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Looking Beyond Fibrillar Features to Scale Gecko‐Like Adhesion
Bartlett, M. D., Croll, A. B., King, D. R., Paret, B. M., Irschick, D. J., & Crosby, A. J. (2012) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.201104191 · Cited by 317 · see citing works
Bullock, J. M. R., & Federle, W. (2011) · Naturwissenschaften · doi:10.1007/s00114-011-0781-4 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Self-citationNeuroMechFly v2: simulating embodied sensorimotor control in adult Drosophila
Wang-Chen, S., Stimpfling, V. A., Lam, T. K. C., Özdil, P. G., Genoud, L., Hurtak, F., & Ramdya, P. (2024) · Nature Methods · doi:10.1038/s41592-024-02497-y · Cited by 43 · see citing works
“Although liftoff mechanisms are known for some insects 36,37 , they are not known for D. melanogaster .”
- Authors
- Bullock, J. M. R., Drechsler, P., & Federle, W.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Federle, Walter
- ORCID
- Federle, Walter
- Venue
- Journal of Experimental Biology
- Publisher
- The Company of Biologists
- Published
- 2008-10-15
- Volume
- 211
- Issue
- 20
- Pages
- 3333-3343
- ISSN
- 0022-0949 (ISSN-L)
- 1477-9145
- OpenAlex
- W2013586339
- Cited by
- 172
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 9.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Experimental Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/E004156/1)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanics of Materials › Adhesion, Friction, and Surface Interactions
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Robotic Locomotion and Control
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computational Theory and Mathematics › Contact Mechanics and Variational Inequalities
- Keywords
- adhesion, friction, orientation dependence, contact area, Gastrophysa viridula, Carausius morosus, insect locomotion, peeling
- MeSH terms
- Adhesiveness, Animals, Biomechanical Phenomena, Extremities, Insecta, Locomotion, Bodily Secretions, Surface Properties, Friction
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