Non-hollow-core Cybister trabeculae and compressive properties of two biomimetic models of beetle forewings.

In 2006, the forewing trabeculae of Cybister tripunctatus Olivier (i.e., Cybister) beetles were reported to be hollow, and a biomimetic structural model (i.e., Song's model) was reported to exhibit better compressive mechanical properties than a solid-core trabecula-honeycomb model (i.e., Chen's model). To test these assertions, the current study first observed the trabecular microstructure of the Cybister beetle and confirmed that the trabeculae are solid. Second, the finite element method (FEM) was used to perform a contrast analysis of the compressive mechanical properties of Song's and Chen's biomimetic models. The results indicated that Chen's model exhibited better compressive mechanical properties. These findings, which are completely opposite of Song's findings, were obtained because the comparison models designed for use in Song's study were not comparable to that of Chen's model in terms of the core volumes. This study will benefit the development of beetle forewing biomimetic research.