Insect attachment on waxy plant surfaces: the effect of pad contamination by different waxes

• Elena V. Gorb and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 385–395, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.35

• contamination of insect adhesive pads with three-dimensional epicuticular waxes of different plant species contributes to the reduction of insect attachment. We measured traction forces of tethered Chrysolina fastuosa male beetles having hairy adhesive pads on nine wax-bearing plant surfaces differing in both

• shape and dimensions of the wax structures and examined insect adhesive organs after they have contacted waxy substrates. For comparison, we performed the experiments with the same beetle individuals on a clean glass sample just before (gl1) and immediately after (gl2) the test on a plant surface. The

• cases of the plant surfaces covered with wax projections having higher aspect ratios. The data obtained clearly indicated the impact of waxy plant surfaces on the insect ability to subsequently attach to the clean smooth surface. This effect is caused by the contamination of adhesive pads and

Development and characterization of potential larvicidal nanoemulsions against Aedes aegypti

• Jonatas L. Duarte,
• Leonardo Delello Di Filippo,
• Anna Eliza Maciel de Faria Mota Oliveira,
• Rafael Miguel Sábio,
• Gabriel Davi Marena,
• Tais Maria Bauab,
• Cristiane Duque,
• Vincent Corbel and
• Marlus Chorilli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 104–114, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.10

• , and immunity to resistance issues that plague conventional chemicals. However, the practical use of monoterpenes in insect control has been hampered by challenges including their poor solubility and stability in aqueous environments. In recent years, the application of nanotechnology-based

Curcumin-loaded nanostructured systems for treatment of leishmaniasis: a review

• Douglas Dourado,
• Thayse Silva Medeiros,
• Éverton do Nascimento Alencar,
• Edijane Matos Sales and
• Fábio Rocha Formiga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 37–50, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.4

• tropical disease caused by a flagellated protozoa of the genus Leishmania. The genus belongs to the Trypanosomatidae family, and it is transmitted by insect vectors of the genus Phlebotomus (in the Old World) or Lutzomyia (in the New World) [25]. The disease is present in several countries and it has

Sulfur nanocomposites with insecticidal effect for the control of Bactericera cockerelli

• Lany S. Araujo-Yépez,
• Juan O. Tigrero-Salas,
• Vicente A. Delgado-Rodríguez,
• Vladimir A. Aguirre-Yela and
• Josué N. Villota-Méndez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1106–1115, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.91

• oil concentration of 0.5% have an insecticidal efficacy of 100% for the control of insect nymphs 24 h after application. The insecticidal efficacy of rosemary nanocomposites with oil concentrations of 0.25% and 0.75% increases over time and reaches 100% at 24 and 72 h, respectively. The synthesized

• cockerelli Šulc) (Hemiptera: Triozidae) is one of the most dangerous pests of potato, tomato, pepper, and other crops of the family Solanaceae [1]. The insect is one of the most destructive potato pests in the western hemisphere, New Zealand, and Australia [2]. It is native to North America. However, because

• , carbamates, and pyrethroids, that are used to combat this pest [9]. The insect pest has developed resistance through high fecundity and short doubling time [10]. Also, persistence, bioaccumulation, toxicity, misuse, and overuse of synthetic insecticides have led to deterioration of soil, air pollution

Biomimetics on the micro- and nanoscale – The 25th anniversary of the lotus effect

• Matthias Mail,
• Kerstin Koch,
• Thomas Speck,
• William M. Megill and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 850–856, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.69

• and insect attachment on leaf surfaces of Schismatoglottis calyptrata (Araceae)” a study of the development of cuticular ridges on the adaxial leaf surfaces during leaf ontogeny of the tropical Araceae S. calyptrata. The structure of these microscopic ridges helps plants to defend themselves against

• the three species of beetles flying tethered in a wind tunnel. The results show that at low wind speeds, typical during insect flight, the species with the highest folding ratio and highest flapping frequencies produced the highest lift-to-drag ratio. The results are in agreement with other studies of

Nanostructured lipid carriers containing benznidazole: physicochemical, biopharmaceutical and cellular in vitro studies

• Giuliana Muraca,
• María Esperanza Ruiz,
• Rocío C. Gambaro,
• Sebastián Scioli-Montoto,
• María Laura Sbaraglini,
• Gisel Padula,
• José Sebastián Cisneros,
• Cecilia Yamil Chain,
• Vera A. Álvarez,
• Cristián Huck-Iriart,
• Guillermo R. Castro,
• María Belén Piñero,
• Matias Ildebrando Marchetto,
• Catalina Alba Soto,
• Germán A. Islan and
• Alan Talevi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 804–818, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.66

• ]. It is caused by the hemoflagellate protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, whose life cycle involves transitioning from non-flagellated multiplicative intracellular forms (amastigotes) to blood-circulating non-multiplicative forms (trypomastigotes). It is mainly transmitted by an insect vector of the

The origin of black and white coloration of the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae)

• Manuela Rebora,
• Gianandrea Salerno,
• Silvana Piersanti,
• Alexander Kovalev and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 496–508, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.41

• ; insects; nanostructure; scales; structural white; Introduction Body color (coloration) and light signals (bioluminescence) have a fundamental role in insect inter- and intra-specific visual communication allowing for species recognition, mating, prey capture, and predator avoidance [1]. Insect colours

• , diffraction and scattering, that cause the selective reflection of light [3]. Quite often, structural colors are present together with pigment colors, to increase or to reduce the brightness and to produce particular effects [4]. Insect exoskeletons with their multilayered internal organisation and the

• related to the superhydrophobicity of their body surface, as an adaptation of an aquatic insect to the subaerial life at the adult stage. Indeed, leg scales with their nanostructures are able to entrap air [11][12][13] and play an important role in contact with water during egg laying, giving the mosquito

Supramolecular assembly of pentamidine and polymeric cyclodextrin bimetallic core–shell nanoarchitectures

• Alexandru-Milentie Hada,
• Nina Burduja,
• Marco Abbate,
• Claudio Stagno,
• Guy Caljon,
• Louis Maes,
• Nicola Micale,
• Massimiliano Cordaro,
• Angela Scala,
• Antonino Mazzaglia and
• Anna Piperno

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1361–1369, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.112

• long) infected female insect vectors of the Phlebotomine subfamily (sandflies). It is an endemic disease in tropical and subtropical regions as well as in Southern Europe. According to the current WHO data, 50.000–90.000 new cases of visceral leishmaniasis [17] (the most severe form of this disease

Interaction between honeybee mandibles and propolis

• Leonie Saccardi,
• Franz Brümmer,
• Jonas Schiebl,
• Oliver Schwarz,
• Alexander Kovalev and
• Stanislav Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 958–974, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.84

• that anti-adhesive properties minimize adhesion of resins and propolis to their body parts. Various anti-adhesive strategies have been found in nature. Different mechanisms can lead to low adhesion. Possible strategies to reduce adhesion on the insect cuticle, as suggested in [16], are specific surface

• propolis adhesion on mandibles Insect preparation for adhesion tests After insects for experiments were caught, they were placed and stored in the freezer at −20 °C for a minimum of 15 min and up to many months. The mandibles were prepared as described above (Figure 2). Without further treatment a mandible

• ][37]. The low contact angle (<30°) of the substance suggests that the mandible surface might be oleophilic. This is consistent with observations that insect cuticles are generally rather wetted by oils than by water [38]. There are different possibilities for the origin of the lubricating layer. It

Bioselectivity of silk protein-based materials and their bio-inspired applications

• Hendrik Bargel,
• Vanessa T. Trossmann,
• Christoph Sommer and
• Thomas Scheibel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 902–921, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.81

• nanostructured ultrahydrophobic surfaces with self-cleaning ability, such as Lotus leaves and insect wing analogues [53][54][55], and the superhydrophobic air-retaining surfaces of Salvinia floating fern leaves and of the water bug Notonecta glauca [53][56]. Based on such blueprints, bioinspired anti-adhesion

• , and whilst the termini are hydrophilic, the repetitive cores are composed of alternating large hydrophobic amino acid sequence blocks interspersed with short hydrophilic parts. Interestingly, in both insect (fibroin) and spider (spidroin) silk fibres the core is composed of fibrils that are oriented

Micro-structures, nanomechanical properties and flight performance of three beetles with different folding ratios

• Jiyu Sun,
• Pengpeng Li,
• Yongwei Yan,
• Fa Song,
• Nuo Xu and
• Zhijun Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 845–856, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.75

• insects in flight and to imitate the flight of insects [14][15]. Insect wings play a major role here. Hence, examining their flight parameters is crucially important to design biomimetic FMAVs [16][17]. It is increasingly clear that most insects obtain useful force with the help of aerodynamic mechanisms

• that their flapping lifts were different because of the different sizes and shapes of the wings [20]. Additionally, the elasticity of insect wings also has an impact on the aerodynamic characteristics. By studying the flexible deformations and aerodynamic characteristics of cicada wings during flapping

• ratios gradually decreased and stabilized. For P. brevitarsis, although the downward trend of lift was not obvious (at low wind speed) (Figure 5B), the lift-to-drag ratio still rapidly descended. The reason for this is that, when the insect size decreased, the wing speed decreased (due to reduced wing

Hierachical epicuticular wax coverage on leaves of Deschampsia antarctica as a possible adaptation to severe environmental conditions

• Elena V. Gorb,
• Iryna A. Kozeretska and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 807–816, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.71

• . macrophylla Jebb and Cheek, N. mirabilis (Lour.) Druce, and N. rafflesiana Jack [16][17]. The waxy (slippery) zone located inside the pitchers is highly specialized for trapping and retaining of insect prey mainly due to contamination of attachment organs of insects [16], reduction of the real contact area

• between the plant surface and insect adhesive devices [16][18], and absorption of the insect adhesive fluid [19]. Whereas the upper wax platelets are rather fragile and can be easily broken into small pieces and removed from the slippery zone thus contaminating insect attachment organs, the pitchers still

• remain fully functional in terms of insect trapping owing to the presence of rather stable lower-layer wax projections [16][17]. Taking into account the above consideration about the Nepenthes wax, we suggest for leaves of D. antarctica that the presence of the two wax layers increases the chance of the

Effect of sample treatment on the elastic modulus of locust cuticle obtained by nanoindentation

• Chuchu Li,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Hamed Rajabi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 404–410, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.33

• : biomimetics; cuticle; locust; material properties; mechanical testing; nanoindentation; water content; Introduction Cuticle is a lightweight material that forms the whole exoskeleton of insects, from the flexible intersegmental membrane to the stiff jaws and claws. Cuticle of each insect body part has

• , 1 kPa to 20 GPa [1]. Owing to developments in mechanical testing [2] and imaging techniques [3] and the use of evolutionary algorithms [4], our knowledge about the biomechanics of insect cuticle has been widely broadened recently. However, cuticle remains to be one of the least studied biological

• materials. This is mostly because measuring the mechanical properties of insect cuticle is very challenging in practice. One of these challenges is associated with the rather fast desiccation rate of cuticle, as it loses its water shortly after removal from insect body [5]. Only small changes in the water

Polarity in cuticular ridge development and insect attachment on leaf surfaces of Schismatoglottis calyptrata (Araceae)

• Venkata A. Surapaneni,
• Tobias Aust,
• Thomas Speck and
• Marc Thielen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1326–1338, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.98

• surfaces. The changes in the micro- and macroscale morphology of the leaves should improve our understanding of the way that plants defend themselves against insect herbivores. Keywords: cuticular ridges; insect adhesion; leaf surfaces; ontogeny; polarity; surface replication; Introduction The plant

• imaging of young leaf surfaces [7][23]. By means of confocal microscopy experiments, we demonstrate that polarity in ridge development also occurs on leaves of S. calyptrata and that the surface roughness of the leaves increases as the leaves mature. Previous studies have found reduced insect adhesive

• forces on rough plant surfaces [8][9][23][27][28][29][30][31]. By performing traction experiments using Colorado potato beetles (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) as model insect species, we show that the walking frictional forces of insects are reduced as well on freshly unrolled as on adult leaf surfaces

Physical constraints lead to parallel evolution of micro- and nanostructures of animal adhesive pads: a review

• Thies H. Büscher and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 725–743, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.57

• ][54][55] and ectoparasitic flies are highly modified to remain attached to their hosts and move on them [56]. There are numerous other functional modifications on insect legs, including silk production (e.g., [57]) or prey capturing [58], but one is of major importance for nearly all insects: the

• have smooth ones (Figure 3). Although very similar in shape and identical in function, these micro- and nanostructures evolved in a convergent manner in different insect groups. Smooth attachment systems, on the other hand, comprise soft cuticular pads without elongated fibrillar outgrowths. Usually

• necessarily uniform throughout the entire group (e.g., Phasmatodea, [109]). Unfortunately, broad comparative analyses based on several species per group are missing for most insect lineages. In addition, the same anatomical structure might be hairy or smooth in different representatives of the same group (e.g

A review on the biological effects of nanomaterials on silkworm (Bombyx mori)

• Sandra Senyo Fometu,
• Guohua Wu,
• Lin Ma and
• Joan Shine Davids

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 190–202, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.15

• studying cellular toxicity, response to new drugs [78] and environmental pollution. Silkworm (Bombyx mori) is an invertebrate insect widely used as a model organism in life sciences [79] since it has diverse mutant strains, a complete genome sequenced, and a protein database available [80][81]. There are

• resources [82][83]. It is relatively easy to obtain organs and genes from the silkworm compared to the fruit fly, which requires the use of a microscope due to its small body size. The fruit fly is also a prolific invertebrate insect with notable features and its genes are used as tools to study embryonic

Bio-imaging with the helium-ion microscope: A review

• Matthias Schmidt,
• James M. Byrne and
• Ilari J. Maasilta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1–23, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.1

• et al. [75]. Their study examined how the surface texture of genetically different samples varied after acid treatment to see the potential for enzymatic biofuel production. HIM imaging was once again used in studies of insect wings and their nanostructures by Bandara et al. [76][77]. In this case, a

A biomimetic nanofluidic diode based on surface-modified polymeric carbon nitride nanotubes

• Kai Xiao,
• Baris Kumru,
• Lu Chen,
• Lei Jiang,
• Bernhard V. K. J. Schmidt and
• Markus Antonietti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1316–1323, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.130

• organisms [1]. All biological signal transport and transduction processes, including pain, haptics, vision, audition, olfaction, and muscular movement, as well as energy conversion and consumption are associated with ion transport [2][3]. For example, a plant injured on one leaf by a nibbling insect can

A comparison of tarsal morphology and traction force in the two burying beetles Nicrophorus nepalensis and Nicrophorus vespilloides (Coleoptera, Silphidae)

• Liesa Schnee,
• Benjamin Sampalla,
• Josef K. Müller and
• Oliver Betz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 47–61, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.5

• of insect adhesion have been performed with ‘good plant climbers’ [4][5][6][7]. Although burying beetles can be observed climbing plants to reach a better position from which to start flying to their carrion resources [1], they do not primarily use their tarsi in the context of plant climbing

• smooth vertical (glass) surfaces, the question arose regarding the functional reason for this observed difference in attachment performance. Such large performance differences between closely related insect species of the same genus have seldom been reported [6] but have the potential to provide major

• clues concerning the mechanisms behind insect attachment. Although burying beetles appear not to be especially adapted to smooth and slippery plant surfaces, N. nepalensis is known as a ‘good climber’ [2] and both the investigated species exhibit, like other burying beetles [8], many tarsal adhesive

A new bioinspired method for pressure and flow sensing based on the underwater air-retaining surface of the backswimmer Notonecta

• Matthias Mail,
• Adrian Klein,
• Horst Bleckmann,
• Anke Schmitz,
• Torsten Scherer,
• Peter T. Rühr,
• Goran Lovric,
• Robin Fröhlingsdorf,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Wilhelm Barthlott

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 3039–3047, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.282

• serve a sensory function. We suggest that this predatory aquatic insect can detect pressure changes and water movements by sensing volume changes of the air layer under water. In the present study, we used a variety of microscopy techniques to investigate the fine structure of the hemelytra. Furthermore

• the course of about 3.7 billion years of biological evolution [1][2][3], a stunning diversity of surface architectures has evolved. Today, millions of living prototypes (species) exist, waiting to be used for the development of biomimetic technical innovations [4][5]. Well know examples are insect

Review on nanoparticles and nanostructured materials: history, sources, toxicity and regulations

• Jaison Jeevanandam,
• Ahmed Barhoum,
• Yen S. Chan,
• Alain Dufresne and
• Michael K. Danquah

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1050–1074, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.98

• ][201]. These superhydrophobic materials were useful in applications such as water treatment [202][203], wettability switchers [204][205], smart actuators [206], transparent coatings and electrodes [207][208][209]. Nanoparticles and nanostructures in insects Insect wing membranes are comprised of

• building materials with 0.5 µm to 1 mm thickness [212]. Additionally, the insect wings are formed by a complex vein system which gives superior stability to the entire wing structure [213][214][215]. Long chain crystalline chitin polymer is the basic framework of insect wings that provides membrane support

• their weightless wing material [220][221][222]. Insect wing surfaces demonstrate a rough and highly ordered structure comprised of micro- and nanoscale properties to minimize their mass and protect them against wetting and pollutants. A methodical terminology to explain the structural properties of

Bioinspired self-healing materials: lessons from nature

• Joseph C. Cremaldi and
• Bharat Bhushan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 907–935, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.85

• function such as digestion, locomotion, or flight. Unlike vertebrates, however, all insect muscle is striated and under voluntary control [17]. Despite the variation in characteristics and usage, all muscle is dependent on the interaction between the proteins actin and myosin at the most basic level. A

Effect of microtrichia on the interlocking mechanism in the Asian ladybeetle, Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

• Jiyu Sun,
• Chao Liu,
• Bharat Bhushan,
• Wei Wu and
• Jin Tong

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 812–823, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.75

• hindwings of the H. axyridis was established, and its underlying mechanism is discussed. Keywords: anti-wetting; folding process; interlocking mechanism; micro air vehicles; microtrichia; Introduction Insect wings have many properties, such as lightness, thinness, high flexibility and high load capacity

• °). Some studies of dragonfly and damselfly wings have demonstrated that CAs are in the range of 120–136° [29]. The results of these studies demonstrate that insect wings have hydrophobic activities. Some insects can perform normal flapping flight in the rain, and their wings are kept dry, allowing them to

• contend with environmental risks [30][31][32][33]. In addition, dirt on insect wings may increase wind resistance and energy consumption [34], and the hydrophobic structure of the microtrichia may also prevent dust intrusion so that the wings can be kept clean, thereby improving flight efficiency. More

Surfactant-induced enhancement of droplet adhesion in superhydrophobic soybean (Glycine max L.) leaves

• Oliver Hagedorn,
• Ingo Fleute-Schlachter,
• Hans Georg Mainx,
• Viktoria Zeisler-Diehl and
• Kerstin Koch

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2345–2356, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.234

• mechanical stability [5]. Furthermore, the cuticle interacts with its biotic environment and plays a crucial role for insect signaling [6] and insect attachment [7][8][9]. The leaf surfaces are composed of epidermis cells covered by a cuticle, which is a continuous extracellular membrane on primary plant

Collembola cuticles and the three-phase line tension

• Håkon Gundersen,
• Hans Petter Leinaas and
• Christian Thaulow

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1714–1722, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.172

• wetting states with any value of θ0 [26], but such structures are not a universal trait in these animals [5][6]. The upper limit of θ0 is about 120° for real surfaces, observed on perfluorinated polymers, or 156 ° for a theoretical surface with no surface tension [27]. Insect waxes fall in the range of 90

• for a smooth solid). This range of inherent contact angles is not sufficient to explain the range of observed apparent contact angles. The assumption for Collembola cuticles in this work was θ0 = 105°, which corresponds to that of many insect waxes [28][29]. The model for predicting apparent contact