title: Brochosomes protect leafhoppers (Insecta, Hemiptera, Cicadellidae) from sticky exudates.
abstract: Leafhoppers (Insecta, Hemiptera, Cicadellidae) actively coat their integuments with buckyball-shaped submicron proteinaceous secretory particles, called brochosomes. Here, we demonstrate that brochosomal coats, recently shown to be superhydrophobic, act as non-stick coatings and protect leafhoppers from contamination with their own sticky exudates--filtered plant sap. We exposed 137 wings of Alnetoidia alneti (Dahlbom), from half of which brochosomes were removed, to the rain of exudates under a colony of live A. alneti. One hundred and fifty-two droplets became stuck to the bared wings and only three to the intact wings. Inspection of the wings with a scanning electron microscope confirmed that the droplets that had hit the intact wings had rolled or bounced off the brochosomal coats. This is the first experimental study that tested a biological function of the brochosomal coats of leafhopper integuments. We argue that the production of brochosomes in leafhoppers and production of epidermal wax blooms in other sap-sucking hemipterans are alternative solutions, both serving to protect these insects from entrapment by their exudates.
authors.affiliation: Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya St. 123, Moscow 117647, Russia. rakitov@gmail.com
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rakitov
authors.forename: Stanislav N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Gorb
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005122:Exudates and Transudates / Q000737:chemistry*; D037741:Fullerenes / Q000737:chemistry; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D013499:Surface Properties; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D037741:Fullerenes
keywords: coating; excrement; insect; non-stick; superhydrophobic; surface
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2002 Jun 22;269(1497):1211-5
references.pmid: 12065036
references.citation: Annu Rev Entomol. 2006;51:635-61
references.pmid: 16332226
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2012 Dec 12;280(1752):20122391
references.pmid: 23235705