Attachment structures and adhesive secretions in arachnids

Jonas Wolff, Stanislav N. Gorb

Research output: Book/ReportBookpeer-review

Abstract

This book surveys attachment structures and adhesive secretions occurring in this class of animals and discusses the relationships between structure, properties, and function in the context of evolutionary trends, and biomimetic potential. Topics comprise mechanical attachment devices, such as clamps, claws, hooks, spines and wraps, as well as hairy and smooth adhesive pads, nano-fibrils, suction cups, and viscid and solidifying adhesives. Attachment is one of the major types of interactions between an organism and its environment. There are numerous studies that deal with this phenomenon in lizards, frogs, insects, barnacles, mussels and echinoderms, but the second largest class of animals, the Arachnida, was highly neglected so far. The authors demonstrated that most arachnid adhesive structures are highly analogous to those of insects and vertebrates, but there are also numerous unique developments with some intriguing working principles. Because arachnid attachment organs have a very strong potential of technological ideas for the development of new materials and systems, inspirations from biology could also be interesting for a broad range of topics in materials and surface engineering.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationCham, Switzerland
PublisherSpringer, Springer Nature
Number of pages184
ISBN (Electronic)9783319457130
ISBN (Print)9783319457123
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016
Externally publishedYes

Publication series

NameBiologically-inspired systems
PublisherSpringer
Volume7
ISSN (Print)2211-0593
ISSN (Electronic)2211-0607

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