title: Strength of silk attachment toIlex chinensisleaves in the tea bagwormEumeta minuscula(Lepidoptera, Psychidae).
abstract: Silks play an important role in the life of various arthropods. A highly neglected prerequisite to make versatile use of silks is sufficient attachment to substrates. Although there have been some studies on the structure and mechanics of silk anchorages of spiders, for insects only anecdotal reports on attachment-associated spinning behaviour exist. Here, we experimentally studied the silk attachment of the pupae and last instar caterpillars of the tea bagwormEumeta minuscula(Butler 1881) (Lepidoptera, Psychidae) to the leaves of its host plantIlex chinensisWe found that the bagworms spin attachment discs, which share some structural features with those of spiders, like a plaque consisting of numerous overlaid, looped glue-coated silk fibres and the medially attaching suspension thread. Although the glue, which coats the fibres, cannot spread and adhere very well to the leaf surface, high pull-off forces were measured, yielding a mean safety factor (force divided by the animal weight) of 385.6. Presumably, the bagworms achieve this by removal of the leaf epidermis prior to silk attachment, which exposes the underlying tissue that represents a much better bonding site. This ensures a reliable attachment during the immobile, vulnerable pupal stage. This is the first study on the biomechanics and structure of silk attachments to substrates in insects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia.
authors.forename: Jonas O
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2326-0326
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.affiliation: Entomological Museum, All-Russian Center for Plant Quarantine, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lovtsova
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Kiel University, Am Botanischen Garten 9, 24118 Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gorb
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bio-inspired Structure and Surface Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 29 Yudao Street, 210016 Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhendong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bio-inspired Structure and Surface Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 29 Yudao Street, 210016 Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Aihong
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bio-inspired Structure and Surface Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 29 Yudao Street, 210016 Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhihui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bio-inspired Structure and Surface Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 29 Yudao Street, 210016 Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Kiel University, Am Botanischen Garten 9, 24118 Kiel, Germany sgorb@zoologie.uni-kiel.de.
authors.forename: Stanislav N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Gorb
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049832:Decapodiformes; D009036:Moths / Q000502:physiology*; D018515:Plant Leaves; D047011:Silk / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
chemical_list: D047011:Silk
keywords: adhesion; attachment disc; cocoon; insect–plant interaction; moth; silk