Stanislav Gorb

Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel | CAU · Functional Morphology and Biomechanics

The radula is the ingesta-gathering structure in Mollusca. As interface, it has to perform various tasks without functional deterioration caused by wear. Wear prevention is well investigated in mollusks that forage on rocks and that generate high punctual pressure with their hard teeth, which contain high inorganic contents at their tips. In mollus...

Suckermouth armoured catfish (Loricariidae) are a highly specious and diverse freshwater fish family, which bear upper and lower lips forming an oral disc. Its hierarchical organisation allows the attachment to various natural surfaces. The discs can possess papillae of different shapes, which are supplemented, in many taxa, by small horny projecti...

Compared to wingless insects, pterygote insects profit from numerous wing‐related benefits including a wider distribution range, the exploitation of various food resources and the escape from water‐ or land‐confined predators. In order to maintain the wings´ functionality, the wing design and resistance to material fatigue are of key importance. Th...

Insect wings are adaptive structures that automatically respond to flight forces, surpassing even cutting-edge engineering shape-morphing systems. A widely accepted but not yet explicitly tested hypothesis is that a 3D component in the wing’s proximal region, known as basal complex, determines the quality of wing shape changes in flight. Through ou...

Green dock beetles Gastrophysa viridula exhibit sexual dimorphism in tarsal attachment setae: females have only pointed, lanceolate and spatula-like setae, while males additionally possess discoidal ones. The sexual dimorphism is probably attributed to the necessity of male discoidal setae to adhere to the smooth back of the female during copulatio...

The molluscan feeding structure is the radula, a chitinous membrane with teeth, which are highly adapted to the food and the substrate to which the food is attached. In Polyplacophora and Patellogastropoda, the handling of hard ingesta can be facilitated by high content of chemical compounds containing Fe or Si in the tooth cusps. Other taxa, howev...

Biomimetics (bionics, bioinspired technology) refers to research on living systems and attempts to transfer their properties to engineering applications [...]

Plants and herbivorous insects, as well as their natural enemies such as predatory and parasitoid insects, are united by intricate relationships [...]

Many biological materials may be considered as cellular materials, for example, soft tissues, but also bones, wood, or foam‐like medulla in a bird feather. The cells may be filled with a fluid or just with air, have different size, shape, and wall thickness. Less is known about how the mechanical and morphological parameters of the cellular materia...

The feeding mechanisms of animals constrain the spectrum of resources that they can exploit profitably. For floral nectar eaters, both corolla depth and nectar properties have marked influence on foraging choices. We report the multiple strategies used by honey bees to efficiently extract nectar at the range of sugar concentrations and corolla dept...

Insect feeding structures, such as mandibles, interact with the ingesta (food or/and substrate) and show adaptations in shape, material composition and mechanical properties to it. Especially, the foraging on abrasive ingesta, as on algae covering rocks, is challenging, since wear and structural failure can occur from the grazing activity. Adaptati...

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It is shown that the advancing (ACA) and receding (RCA) contact angles of water on extremely soft (shear modulus of the order of 10 kPa) magnetoactive elastomer (MAE) films significantly depend on the applied magnetic field. The difference between these angles, known as the contact angle hysteresis, is examined. The roles of the filler concentratio...

Living animals and legged robots share similar challenges for movement control. In particular, the investigation of neural control mechanisms for the self‐organized locomotion of insects and hexapod robots can be informative for other fields. The Annam stick insect Medauroidea extradentata is used as a template to develop a biorobotic model to infe...

Molluscs forage with their radula, a chitinous membrane with teeth. Adaptations to hard or abrasive ingesta were well studied in Polyplacophora and Patellogastropoda, but for other taxa there are large gaps in knowledge. Here, we investigated the nudibranch gastropods Felimare picta and Doris pseudoargus, both of which feed on Porifera. Tooth morph...

The diversity of insects can be explained by their ability to fill various ecological niches, which includes the foraging from diverse sources. The cuticle-based feeding structures interact with the food and show adaptations in shape, material composition and mechanical properties to it. In this study, we focus on the mouthparts of a very prominent...

Suspension feeding via setae collecting particles is common within Crustacea. Even though the mechanisms behind it and the structures themselves have been studied for decades, the interplay between the different setae types and the parameters contributing to their particle collecting capacities remain partly enigmatic. Here, we provide a numerical...

The radula, a chitinous membrane with teeth, is the molluscan autapomorphy for food gathering and processing. Even though this structure is studied for decades, the interplay between the structure and the particular food or/and the substrate remains mostly enigmatic. Here, we provide a numerical model approach to understand the relationship between...

Phylliidae are herbivorous insects exhibiting impressive cryptic masquerade and are colloquially called “walking leaves”. They imitate angiosperm leaves and their eggs often resemble plant seeds structurally and in some cases functionally. Despite overall morphological similarity of adult Phylliidae, their eggs reveal a significant diversity in ove...

The molluscan feeding structure is the radula, a chitinous membrane with teeth, which are highly adapted to the food and the substrate. In Polyplacophora and Patellogastropoda, the handling of hard ingesta can be facilitated by high content of chemical compounds containing Fe or Si in the tooth cusps. Other taxa, however, possess teeth that are les...

Grasping multiple object types (versatile object grasping) with a single gripper is always a challenging task in robotic manipulation. Different types of grippers, including rigid and soft, have been developed to try to achieve the task. However, each gripper type is still restricted to specific object types. In nature, many insects can be observed...

Prehensile raptorial forelegs are prey capturing and grasping devices, best known for praying mantises (Mantodea) within insects. They show strong morphological and behavioral adaptations toward a lifestyle as generalist arthropod predators. In the past, few species of Mantodea were investigated, concerning morphological variability of the raptoria...

Dragonfly and damselfly larvae (Insecta: Odonata) capture prey by rapid protraction of a raptorial mouthpart, based on a modified labium. Yet, in insects with biting-chewing mouthparts, the labium has an essential role in food handling. These two distinct functions -prey capturing and handling-lead to a mechanical problem in Odonata larvae: while t...

Water striders ( Gerris argentatus ) move across the water surface by taking advantage of the surface tension, which supports their bodyweight without breaking. During locomotion, the midlegs are primarily responsible for generating thrust, whereas the other legs support the body. Although the aspects of standing and locomotion on the water surface...

Metamaterials with adjustable, sometimes unusual properties offer advantages over conventional materials with predefined mechanical properties in many technological applications. A group of metamaterials, called modular metamaterials or metastructures, are developed through the arrangement of multiple, mostly similar building blocks. These modular...

Micro- and nanostructures of the white and black scales on the tarsi of the mosquito Aedes albopictus are analysed using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and fluorescence microscopy. Reflectance spectra of the white areas are measured. No clear difference is present in the morphology of micro- and nanostructures of bl...

Critical-sized bone defects can result from trauma, inflammation, and tumor resection. Such bone defects, often have irregular shapes, resulting in the need for new technologies to produce suitable implants. Bioprinting is an additive manufacturing method to create complex and individualised bone constructs, which can already include vital cells. I...

In order to understand whether the petal surface in “cafeteria”-type flowers, which offer their nectar and pollen to insect pollinators in an open way, is adapted to a stronger attachment of insect pollinators, we selected the plant Dahlia pinnata and the hovering fly Eristalis tenax, both being generalist species according to their pollinator’s sp...

The diversity of true bugs gave rise to various lifestyles, including gaining advantage from other organisms. Plokiophilidae are cimicomorphan bugs that live in the silk constructions of other arthropods. One group, Embiophila, exclusively settles in the silk colonies of webspinners (Embioptera). We investigated the lifestyle of Embiophila using mi...

Asteraceae, one of the largest flowering plant families, is adapted to a vast range of ecological niches. Their adaptability is partially based on their strong ability to reproduce. The initial, yet challenging, step for the reproduction of animal-pollinated plants is to transport pollen to flower-visiting pollinators. We adopted Hypochaeris radica...

Suspension feeding by particle collecting setae is common within Crustacea. Even though the mechanisms behind it and the structures themselves were studied for decades, the interplay between the different setae types and the parameters contributing to their particle collecting capacities remain enigmatic. Here, we provide a numerical model approach...

Functional systems that evolve as a response to specific environmental challenges often exhibit convergent traits. Organs adapted for attachment to a surface are tuned to a general requirement independent of the phylogenetic position of the organism. The different strategies employed for solving similar problems often represent the same physical pr...

Adaptations to flow have already been in the focus of early stream research, but till today morphological adaptations of stream insects are hardly understood. While most previous stream research focused on drag, the effects of lift on ground-living stream insects have been often overlooked. Stream mayfly larvae Ecdyonurus sp. graze on algae on top...

The diversity of insects can be explained by their multitude of ecological niches, which includes the foraging from various sources. The cuticle-based feeding structures interact with the food and show adaptations in morphology, material composition and mechanical properties to it. Here, we studied the larval mandibles of six Trichoptera species, w...

The honeybee stinger, as an important organ for self-defense and reproduction, have evolved specific macroscopic morphologies and microscopic structures. Here, we investigated the surface and cross-sectional structures and material composition of the cuticle in the stingers of worker honeybees (Apis mellifera). Except the stinger bulb, the cuticle...

Bird feathers sustain bending and vibrations during flight. Such unwanted vibrations could potentially cause noise and flight instabilities. Damping could alter the system response, resulting in improving quiet flight, stability, and controllability. Vanes of feathers are known to be indispensable for supporting the aerodynamic function of the wing...

The diversity of insects can be explained by their ability to establish various ecological niches, which includes the foraging from diverse sources. The cuticle-based feeding structures interact with the food and show adaptations in shape, material composition and mechanical properties to it. Some predatory species are extremely specialised to a ve...

Representatives of arthropods, the largest animal phylum, occupy terrestrial, aquatic, arboreal, and subterranean niches. Their evolutionary success depends on specific morphological and biomechanical adaptations related to their materials and structures. Biologists and engineers have become increasingly interested in exploring these natural soluti...

A higher relative humidity leads to an increased sticking power of gecko feet to surfaces. The molecular mechanism responsible for this increase, however, is not clear. Capillary forces, water mediating keratin-surface contacts and water-induced softening of the keratin are proposed as candidates. In previous work, strong evidence for water mediati...

During flight, vibrations potentially cause aerodynamic instability and noise. Besides muscle control, the intrinsic damping in bird feathers helps to reduce vibrations. The vanes of the feathers play a key role in flight, and they support feathers’ aerodynamic function through their interlocked barbules. However, the exact mechanisms that determin...

Geometry and material are two key factors that determine the functionality of mechanical elements under a specific boundary condition. Optimum combinations of these factors fulfil desired mechanical behaviour. By exploring biological systems, we find widespread spiral-shaped mechanical elements with various combinations of geometries and material p...

Stick and leaf insects (Phasmatodea) are exclusively herbivores. As they settle in a broad range of habitats, they need to attach to and walk on a wide variety of plant substrates, which can vary in their surface free energy (SFE). The adhesive microstructures (AMS) on the euplantulae of phasmids are assumed to be adapted to such substrate properti...

Animals can utilize the friction anisotropy of their skin to traverse various substrates efficiently. Inspired by this, we explore different bio-inspired sawtooth-like surface structures on a soft crawling robot. Our results show the robot can crawl in different directions by exploiting friction anisotropy on the substrates and using only a single...

This study investigates the attachment ability of the oligophagous melon ladybird beetle Chnootriba elaterii to leaves of several Cucurbitaceae species. Using cryo-SEM, we described adult and larva tarsal attachment devices and leaf surface structures (glandular and non-glandular trichomes) in Citrullus lanatus, Cucumis melo, Cucumis sativus, Cucur...

The molluscan phylum is characterized by the radula, used for the gathering and processing of food. This structure can consist of a chitinous membrane with embedded rows of teeth, which show structural, chemical, and biomechanical adaptations to the preferred ingesta. With regard to the chemical composition of teeth, some taxa (Polyplacophora and P...

The Science of Nature (2022) 109:58 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-022-01829-2

Plants and animals are often inspiration for biomimetic engineering. However, the actual strength of using biological systems as source for information often falls short: the isolation of core principles from similar functional systems solving the same problem. We compared the adhesive systems of the eggs of a leaf insect and the seeds of the ivy g...

Crawling animals with bendable soft bodies use the friction anisotropy of their asymmetric body structures to traverse various substrates efficiently. Although the effect of friction anisotropy has been investigated and applied to robot locomotion, the dynamic interactions between soft body bending at different frequencies (low and high), soft asym...

The ability to fly is crucial for migratory insects. Consequently, the accumulation of damage on the wings over time can affect survival, especially for species that travel long distances. We examined the frequency of irreversible wing damage in the migratory butterfly Vanessa cardui to explore the effect of wing structure on wing damage frequency,...

Superhydrophobic surfaces are well known for most different functions in plants, animals, and thus for biomimetic technical applications. Beside the Lotus Effect, one of their features with great technical, economic and ecologic potential is the Salvinia Effect, the capability to keep a stable air layer when submerged under water. Such air layers a...

Background: Most molluscs forage with their radula, a chitinous membrane with embedded teeth. As teeth are interfaces between the individual and its ingesta, trophic specialisations can be reflected by morphology, composition, and mechanical properties of the radula. Adaptations to the ingesta – especially with regard to mechanisms contributing to...

The radula, a chitinous membrane spiked with teeth, is the molluscan autapomorphy for the gathering and processing of food. The teeth, as actual interfaces between the organism and the ingesta, act as load transmitting regions and have to withstand high stresses during foraging-without structural failure or high degrees of wear. Mechanisms contribu...

The gastric mill of Decapoda is a unique feature, which comprises teeth, stabilizing ossicles, and particle sorting setae. Involved in the fragmentation and sorting of the food, this structure serves as interface between the organism and its environment. As material properties complement morphology and hold information about function and trophic pr...

Plants and animals are often used as a source for inspiration in biomimetic engineering. However, stronger engagement of biologists is often required in the field of biomimetics. The actual strength of using biological systems as a source of inspiration for human problem solving does not lie in a perfect copy of a single system but in the extractio...

Herbivorous insects and plants exemplify a longstanding antagonistic coevolution, resulting in the development of a variety of adaptations on both sides. Some plant surfaces evolved features that negatively influence the performance of the attachment systems of insects, which adapted accordingly as a response. Stick insects (Phasmatodea) have a wel...

We developed a united-atom model of gecko keratin to investigate the influence of electrostatic and van der Waals contributions to gecko adhesion in scenarios representing gecko's natural habitats. The keratin model assumes that only intrinsically disordered regions directly contact the surface. Contact angles of two generic substrate surfaces that...

Hippoboscidae and Nycteribiidae of the dipteran superfamily Hippoboscoidea are obligate ectoparasites, which feed on the blood of different mammals. Due to their limited flight capability, the attachment system on all tarsi is of great importance for a secure grasp onto their host and thus for their survival. In this study, the functional morpholog...

The auto-cleaning system in digging forelegs of the Congo rose chafer Pachnoda marginata femoro-tibial joint is described. The cleaning system consists of four subsystems: three external ones represented by microsetal pad, hairy brush and scraper and one internal one. They work proactively not only removing contaminants, but also preventing them fr...

Barnacles rely heavily on their mobile cirri for food capture because of the sessile lifestyle. These filamentous food capturing devices are extended into the water current and perform undulating movements. Cuticular structures with corresponding musculature work together, to allow these highly repetitive movements. This paper studies the interplay...

Insect attachment devices and capabilities have been subject to research efforts for decades, and even though during that time considerable progress has been made, numerous questions remain. Different types of attachment devices are known, alongside most of their working principles, however, some details have yet to be understood. For instance, it...

The jumping mechanism with supporting morphology and kinematics is described in the marsh beetle Scirtes hemisphaericus (Coleoptera: Scirtidae). In marsh beetles, the jump is performed by the hind legs by the rapid extension of the hind tibia. The kinematic parameters of the jump are: 139–1536 m s⁻² (acceleration), 0.4–1.9 m s⁻¹ (velocity), 2.7–8.4...

Grand canonical ensemble molecular dynamics simulations are done to calculate the water content of gecko β-keratin as a function of relative humidity (RH). For comparison, we experimentally measured the water uptake of scales of the skin of cobra Naja nigricollis. The calculated sigmoidal sorption isotherm is in good agreement with experiment. To e...

In a biomimetic top-down process, challenging the problem of resin deposition on woodworking machine tools, an adequate biological model was sought, which hypothetically could have developed evolutionary anti-adhesive strategies. The honeybee ( Apis mellifera ) was identified as an analogue model since it collects and processes propolis, which larg...

Adhesive materials have many potential applications for daily life such as soft robotics, wearable devices and transfer printing, however the robust and reversible adhesion, especially under extreme environments including space and polar environment, has rarely been studied and poses an inevitable challenge. We report a new design rule to fabricate...