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First published online May 30, 2008
Journal of Experimental Biology 211, 1958-1963 (2008)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2008
doi: 10.1242/jeb.014308
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Terminal contact elements of insect attachment devices studied by transmission X-ray microscopy

T. Eimüller1,2, P. Guttmann3 and S. N. Gorb2,*

1 Junior Research Group Magnetic Microscopy, Experimental Physics, University of Bochum, D-44780 Bochum, Germany
2 Evolutionary Biomaterials Group, Department for Thin Films and Biological Systems, Max Planck Institute for Metals Research, Heisenbergstr. 3, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany
3 University of Göttingen c/o BESSY GmbH, Albert-Einstein-Str. 15, 12489 Berlin, Germany

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: s.gorb{at}mf.mpg.de)

Accepted 20 March 2008

For the first time, the terminal elements (spatulae) of setal (hairy) attachment devices of the beetle Gastrophysa viridula (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) and the fly Lucilia caesar (Diptera, Calliphoridae) were studied using transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM) with a lateral resolution of about 30 nm. Since images are taken under ambient conditions, we demonstrate here that this method can be applied to study the contact behaviour of biological systems, including animal tenent setae, in a fresh state. We observed that the attached spatulae show a viscoelastic behavior increasing the contact area and providing improved adaptability to the local topography of the surface. The technique can be extended to TXM tomography, which would provide three-dimensional information and a deeper insight into the details of insect attachment structures.

Key words: attachment, adhesion, beetle, Gastrophysa viridula, Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, fly, Lucilia caesar, Diptera, Calliphoridae, contact formation, transmission X-ray microscope, TXM






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