Traction force measurements on male Strepsiptera (Insecta) revealed higher forces on smooth compared with hairy substrates

Hans Pohl; Elena V. Gorb; Stanislav N. Gorb

doi:10.1242/jeb.223784

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to find out how strongly the parasitic insect Stylops ovinae, which has tarsi equipped with tenent hairs and lacking claws, attaches to different substrates. We investigated adhesion of male S. ovinae to the abdomen of its hymenopteran host (Andrena vaga), the hairier abdomen of a Bombus sp. and two artificial smooth reference surfaces with different degrees of hydrophilicity. In our experiments, the male S. ovinae developed significantly higher forces on smooth surfaces. However, the forces were significantly lower on all the hymenopteran surfaces used in the experiment. The absence of anisotropy in the force grip in cranial/caudal direction relative to the host might indirectly indicate that S. ovinae generate forces by adhesion rather than mechanical interlocking with the host hairs. The tolerance of the attachment system of S. ovinae to the substrate chemistry might be explained by the primary contribution of van der Waals interactions and not capillary forces to adhesion in S. ovinae.

Footnotes

Competing interests
The authors declare no competing or financial interests.
Author contributions
Conceptualization: H.P., E.V.G., S.N.G.; Methodology: H.P., E.V.G., S.N.G.; Validation: H.P., E.V.G., S.N.G.; Formal analysis: H.P., E.V.G., S.N.G.; Investigation: H.P., E.V.G., S.N.G.; Resources: H.P., E.V.G., S.N.G.; Data curation: H.P., E.V.G., S.N.G.; Writing - original draft: H.P., E.V.G., S.N.G.; Writing - review & editing: H.P., E.V.G., S.N.G.; Visualization: H.P., E.V.G., S.N.G.
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Supplementary information
Supplementary information available online at https://jeb.biologists.org/lookup/doi/10.1242/jeb.223784.supplemental