compound microstructures and wax layer of beetle elytral surfaces and their influence on wetting properties复合微观结构和蜡层甲虫纹表面润湿特性及其影响.pdfVIP

Compound Microstructures and Wax Layer of Beetle Elytral Surfaces and Their Influence on Wetting Properties 1 1 2,3 2,3 4 5 Mingxia Sun , Aiping Liang *, Gregory S. Watson , Jolanta A. Watson , Yongmei Zheng *, Lei Jiang 1 Key Laboratory of the Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of China, 2 Centre for Biodiscovery and Molecular Development of Therapeutics, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia, 3 School of Pharmacy and Molecular Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia, 4 Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Environment, Beihang University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China, 5 Center of Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of China Abstract A beetles’ first line of defense against environmental hazards is their mesothoracic elytra – rigid, protective forewings. In order to study the interaction of these wings with water, the surface microstructures of various beetles’ elytra were observed by Environment Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Chemistry components were ascertained using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). All the beetles of various habitats (including desert, plant, dung, land and water) exhibited compound microstructures on their elytra. The wetting properties of these elytra were identified using an optical contact angle meter. In general the native elytra exhibited hydrophilic or weak hydrophobi