ArticlePloS one2015
Fast and Powerful: Biomechanics and Bite Forces of the Mandibles in the American Cockroach Periplaneta americana.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed.
- Biomechanical components of the plant-insect herbivore arms race: a model test in leaf-cutter ants.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Article
- The Cocoon of the Developing Emerald Jewel Wasp (Ampulex compressa) Resists Cannibalistic Predation of the Zombified Host.Brain, behavior and evolution · 2025Article
- Comparative Morphology of the Extrinsic and Intrinsic Leg Musculature in Dictyoptera (Insecta: Blattodea, Mantodea).Journal of morphology · 2024Article
- A comparison of lower body gait kinematics and kinetics between Theia3D markerless and marker-based models in healthy subjects and clinical patients.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Diverse material properties and morphology of moth proboscises relates to the feeding habits of some macromoth and other lepidopteran lineages.Interface focus · 2024Article
- A bite force database of 654 insect species.Scientific data · 2024Article
- Three-dimensional kinematics of leaf-cutter ant mandibles: not all dicondylic joints are simple hinges.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Is the gut microbiome of insects a potential source to meet UN sustainable development goals to eliminate plastic pollution?Environmental microbiology reports · 2023Article
- Simulated biomechanical performance of morphologically disparate ant mandibles under bite loading.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Strong positive allometry of bite force in leaf-cutter ants increases the range of cuttable plant tissues.The Journal of experimental biology · 2023Article
- A biomechanical model for the relation between bite force and mandibular opening angle in arthropods.Royal Society open science · 2023Article
- Cockroaches: a potential source of novel bioactive molecule(s) for the benefit of human health.Applied entomology and zoology · 2023Review
- Morphological, functional, and phylogenetic aspects of the head capsule of the cockroachPeerJ · 2022Article
- A Roadmap to Reconstructing Muscle Architecture from CT Data.Integrative organismal biology (Oxford, England) · 2022Article
- Article
- The biology of seed discrimination and its role in shaping the foraging ecology of carabids: A review.Ecology and evolution · 2021Review
- Morphological determinants of bite force capacity in insects: a biomechanical analysis of polymorphic leaf-cutter ants.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2021Article
- Radular force performance of stylommatophoran gastropods (Mollusca) with distinct body masses.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Under pressure: force resistance measurements in box mites (Actinotrichida, Oribatida).Frontiers in zoology · 2019Article
- Form-function relationships in dragonfly mandibles under an evolutionary perspective.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2017Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Knowing the functionality and capabilities of masticatory apparatuses is essential for the ecological classification of jawed organisms. Nevertheless insects, especially with their outstanding high species number providing an overwhelming morphological diversity, are notoriously underexplored with respect to maximum bite forces and their dependency on the mandible opening angles. Aiming for a general understanding of insect biting, we examined the generalist feeding cockroach Periplaneta americana, characterized by its primitive chewing mouth parts. We measured active isometric bite forces and passive forces caused by joint resistance over the entire mandibular range with a custom-built 2D force transducer. The opening angle of the mandibles was quantified by using a video system. With respect to the effective mechanical advantage of the mandibles and the cross-section areas, we calculated the forces exerted by the mandible closer muscles and the corresponding muscle stress values. Comparisons with the scarce data available revealed close similarities of the cockroaches' mandible closer stress values (58 N/cm2) to that of smaller specialist carnivorous ground beetles, but strikingly higher values than in larger stag beetles. In contrast to available datasets our results imply the activity of faster and slower muscle fibres, with the latter becoming active only when the animals chew on tough material which requires repetitive, hard biting. Under such circumstances the coactivity of fast and slow fibres provides a force boost which is not available during short-term activities, since long latencies prevent a specific effective employment of the slow fibres in this case.
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