ArticleJournal of the Royal Society, Interface2020
Functional significance of graded properties of insect cuticle supported by an evolutionary analysis.
Article in Journal of the Royal Society, Interface, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed.
- Invasive ambrosia beetles have zinc-enriched mandibles: support for the metal-prioritization hypothesis and insights into the mechanisms of metal deposition.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Bioinspired Strategies for Directional Water Transport in Asymmetric Membranes.ACS applied polymer materials · 2026Review
- Elytral thickness and hidden species-specific traits shape passive thermal responses in beetles.The Journal of experimental biology · 2026Article
- Cuticular microstructure of the locust femur-tibia joint.Biology open · 2025Article
- Correlated evolution of elaborate intromission mechanics during copulation between the sexes in leaf beetles.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Article
- Integrating ultrastructural diffraction imaging and multiscale modelling to unveil the nanoscale mechanics of arthropod cuticle in bending.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Article
- Panoramic view of diversity and function of cuticular proteins in insects and mosquitoes biology.Frontiers in insect science · 2025Review
- Elucidating structure and metabolism of insect biomaterials by solid-state NMR.Solid state nuclear magnetic resonance · 2024Review
- Allometric Scaling Reveals Evolutionary Constraint on Odonata Wing Cellularity via Critical Crack Length.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2024Article
- Tanning of the tarsal and mandibular cuticle in adultInterface focus · 2024Article
- Mechanical and elemental characterization of ant mandibles: consequences for bite mechanics.Interface focus · 2024Article
- The Entomopathogenic FungusInsects · 2023Article
- Simulated biomechanical performance of morphologically disparate ant mandibles under bite loading.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Article
- Sensory signals of unloading in insects are tuned to distinguish leg slipping from load variations in gait: experimental and modeling studies.Journal of neurophysiology · 2022Article
- Material Properties and Morphology of Prestomal Teeth in Relation to the Feeding Habits of Diptera (Brachycera).Insects · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The exoskeleton of nearly all insects consists of a flexible core and a stiff shell. The transition between these two is often characterized by a gradual change in the stiffness. However, the functional significance of this stiffness gradient is unknown. Here by combining finite-element analysis and multi-objective optimization, we simulated the mechanical response of about 3000 unique gradients of the elastic modulus to normal contacts. We showed that materials with exponential gradients of the elastic modulus could achieve an optimal balance between the load-bearing capacity and resilience. This is very similar to the elastic modulus gradient observed in insect cuticle and, therefore, suggests cuticle adaptations to applied mechanical stresses; this is likely to facilitate the function of insect cuticle as a protective barrier. Our results further indicate that the relative thickness of compositionally different regions in insect cuticle is similar to the optimal estimation. We expect our findings to inform the design of engineered materials with improved mechanical performance.
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