Brochosome size variation and its influence on leafhopper (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) wing wettability.

Insect wing surfaces have nano- and microscale features that enable multi-functionality. Leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) are unique in that they produce and excrete nanoscale particles, called brochocosomes, that are spread onto the integument by the insect. Brochosomes are extra-cuticular, removable, and make the integument both superhydrophobic and anti-reflective, 2 greatly desired properties in engineering and material science fields.

Insect-scale jumping robots enabled by a dynamic buckling cascade.

Millions of years of evolution have allowed animals to develop unusual locomotion capabilities. A striking example is the legless-jumping of click beetles and trap-jaw ants, which jump more than 10 times their body length. Their delicate musculoskeletal system amplifies their muscles' power.

Staying Dry and Clean: An Insect's Guide to Hydrophobicity.

Insects demonstrate a wide diversity of microscopic cuticular and extra-cuticular features. These features often produce multifunctional surfaces which are greatly desired in engineering and material science fields. Among these functionalities, hydrophobicity is of particular interest and has gained recent attention as it often results in other properties such as self-cleaning, anti-biofouling, and anti-corrosion.

Electron Tomography and Machine Learning for Understanding the Highly Ordered Structure of Leafhopper Brochosomes.

Insects known as leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) produce hierarchically structured nanoparticles known as brochosomes that are exuded and applied to the insect cuticle, thereby providing camouflage and anti-wetting properties to aid insect survival. Although the physical properties of brochosomes are thought to depend on the leafhopper species, the structure-function relationships governing brochosome behavior are not fully understood. Brochosomes have complex hierarchical structures and morphological heterogeneity across species, due to which a multimodal characterization approach is required to effectively elucidate their nanoscale structure and properties.

Best Practices of Bioinspired Design: Key Themes and Challenges.

Bioinspired design (BID) is an interdisciplinary research field that can lead to innovations to solve technical problems. There have been many attempts to develop a framework to de-silo engineering and biology and implement processes to enable BID. In January of 2022, we organized a symposium at the 2022 Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting to bring together educators and practitioners of BID.

Particulate-Droplet Coalescence and Self-Transport on Superhydrophobic Surfaces.

Particulate transport from surfaces governs a variety of phenomena including fungal spore dispersal, bioaerosol transmission, and self-cleaning. Here, we report a previously unidentified mechanism governing passive particulate removal from superhydrophobic surfaces, where a particle coalescing with a water droplet (∼10 to ∼100 μm) spontaneously launches. Compared to previously discovered coalescence-induced binary droplet jumping, the reported mechanism represents a more general capillary-inertial dominated transport mode coupled with particle/droplet properties and is typically mediated by rotation in addition to translation.

Addressing Diverse Motivations to Enable Bioinspired Design.

Bioinspired design (BID) is an inherently interdisciplinary practice that connects fundamental biological knowledge with the capabilities of engineering solutions. This paper discusses common social challenges inherent to interdisciplinary research, and specific to collaborating across the disciplines of biology and engineering when practicing BID. We also surface best practices that members of the community have identified to help address these challenges.

Nonlinear elasticity and damping govern ultrafast dynamics in click beetles.

Many small animals use springs and latches to overcome the mechanical power output limitations of their muscles. Click beetles use springs and latches to bend their bodies at the thoracic hinge and then unbend extremely quickly, resulting in a clicking motion. When unconstrained, this quick clicking motion results in a jump.

Neurophysiological and behavioral responses of blacklegged ticks to host odors.

The blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis (Ixodida, Ixodidae), is one of the major disease vectors in the United States, and due to multiple human impact factors, such as decreasing forest size for land development and climate change, it has expanded its range and established across the United States. Throughout the life cycle, ticks locate hosts for their blood-meal, and although the ecologies of this tick and their hosts have been studied in depth, the sensory physiology behind host location largely remains unexplored. Here, we report establishing a robust paradigm to isolate and identify odors from the natural milieu for I.

Dissolvable Template Nanoimprint Lithography: A Facile and Versatile Nanoscale Replication Technique.

Nanoimprinting lithography (NIL) is a next-generation nanofabrication method, capable of replicating nanostructures from original master surfaces. Here, we develop highly scalable, simple, and nondestructive NIL using a dissolvable template. Termed dissolvable template nanoimprinting lithography (DT-NIL), our method utilizes an economic thermoplastic resin to fabricate nanoimprinting templates, which can be easily dissolved in simple organic solvents.

Ultrascalable Multifunctional Nanoengineered Copper and Aluminum for Antiadhesion and Bactericidal Applications.

Biofouling disrupts the surface functionality and integrity of engineered substrates. A variety of natural materials such as plant leaves and insect wings have evolved sophisticated physical mechanisms capable of preventing biofouling. Over the past decade, several reports have pinpointed nanoscale surface topography as an important regulator of surface adhesion and growth of bacteria.

Latching of the click beetle (Coleoptera: Elateridae) thoracic hinge enabled by the morphology and mechanics of conformal structures.

Elaterid beetles have evolved to 'click' their bodies in a unique maneuver. When this maneuver is initiated from a stationary position on a solid substrate, it results in a jump not carried out by the traditional means of jointed appendages (i.e.

A foreleg transcriptome for Ixodes scapularis ticks: Candidates for chemoreceptors and binding proteins that might be expressed in the sensory Haller's organ.

Little is known about the molecular basis for the olfactory capabilities of the sensory Haller's organ on the forelegs of ticks. We first expanded the known repertoire of Ionotropic Receptors (IRs), a variant lineage of the ionotropic glutamate receptors, encoded by the black-legged Ixodes scapularis genome from 15 to 125. We then undertook a transcriptome study of fore- and hind-legs of this tick in an effort to identify candidate chemoreceptors differentially expressed in forelegs as likely to be involved in Haller's organ functions.

Spatially resolved chemical analysis of cicada wings using laser-ablation electrospray ionization (LAESI) imaging mass spectrometry (IMS).

Laser-ablation electrospray ionization (LAESI) imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) is an emerging bioanalytical tool for direct imaging and analysis of biological tissues. Performing ionization in an ambient environment, this technique requires little sample preparation and no additional matrix, and can be performed on natural, uneven surfaces. When combined with optical microscopy, the investigation of biological samples by LAESI allows for spatially resolved compositional analysis.

Morphometric Analysis of Chemoreception Organ in Male and Female Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae).

The Haller's organ plays a crucial role in a tick's ability to detect hosts. Even though this sensory organ is vital to tick survival, the morphology of this organ is not well understood. The objective of this study was to characterize variation in the morphological components of the Haller's organ of three medically important tick species using quantitative methods.

Exploring the Role of Habitat on the Wettability of Cicada Wings.

Evolutionary pressure has pushed many extant species to develop micro/nanostructures that can significantly affect wettability and enable functionalities such as droplet jumping, self-cleaning, antifogging, antimicrobial, and antireflectivity. In particular, significant effort is underway to understand the insect wing surface structure to establish rational design tools for the development of novel engineered materials. Most studies, however, have focused on superhydrophobic wings obtained from a single insect species, in particular, the Psaltoda claripennis cicada.

Influence of oviposition experience on multiparasitism by Pimpla disparis Vierick and Itoplectis conquisitor Say (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae).

We evaluated the potential for competition between the exotic ichneumonid parasitoid Pimpla disparis Vierick and the native ichneumonid Itoplectis conquisitor Say, in the form of multiparasitism and destructive host feeding, by examining how previous oviposition experience influenced host selection. Both species commonly attack the host species, bagworm, Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Haworth) (Lepidoptera: Psychidae), in central Illinois. We used in our study adult female parasitoids that were naïve, had previously oviposited into hosts that contained heterospecifics, or had oviposited into hosts that initially were unparasitized.

Quantification and development of teratocytes in novel-association host-parasitoid combinations.

We studied the development of teratocytes derived from two congeneric gregarious endoparasitic species, Cotesia chilonis and C. flavipes, parasitizing two congeneric novel hosts, Diatraea saccharalis and D. grandiosella.