insect clinging - honours project


Insects are very good at clinging to surfaces using their claws.

However, this might start becoming a problem as they get bigger. That's because to stick to things with claws they need very fine, sharp claws. But we know from our scaling lectures that as things get bigger the diameter of things is also expected to increase. So how do they do it? Does claw morphology change with size, or do larger bugs simply stick less well?

To answer this we will need a combination of SEM images of insect claws, and some performance estimates of insect sticking ability, probably using something like an insect centrifuge.

We currently have a whole stack of rhino beetle grubs which would be great for this project, and are due to hatch out this summer.

Keen to try your luck at making one? Blue print below ;)







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