'Insect aquaplaning' on a superhydrophilic hairy surface: how Heliamphora nutans Benth. pitcher plants capture prey.

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Title: 'Insect aquaplaning' on a superhydrophilic hairy surface: how Heliamphora nutans Benth. pitcher plants capture prey.
Authors: Bauer, Ulrike1 ub213@cam.ac.uk, Scharmann, Mathias2, Skepper, Jeremy3, Federle, Walter4
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2/22/2013, Vol. 280 Issue 1753, p1-1. 1p.
Subjects: Carnivorous animals, Predation, Trichomes, Pitcher plants, Insect trapping, Claws
Abstract: Trichomes are a common feature of plants and perform important and diverse functions. Here, we show that the inward-pointing hairs on the inner wall of insect-trapping Heliamphora nutans pitchers are highly wettable, causing water droplets to spread rapidly across the surface. Wetting strongly enhanced the slipperiness and increased the capture rate for ants from 29 to 88 per cent. Force measurements and tarsal ablation experiments revealed that wetting affected the insects' adhesive pads but not the claws, similar to the 'aquaplaning' mechanism of (unrelated) Asian Nepenthes pitcher plants. The inward-pointing trichomes provided much higher traction when insects were pulled outwards. The wetness-dependent capture mechanisms of H. nutans and Nepenthes pitchers present a striking case of functional convergence, whereas the use of wettable trichomes constitutes a previously unknown mechanism to make plant surfaces slippery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences is the property of Royal Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: 'Insect aquaplaning' on a superhydrophilic hairy surface: how Heliamphora nutans Benth. pitcher plants capture prey.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Bauer%2C+Ulrike%22">Bauer, Ulrike</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> ub213@cam.ac.uk</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Scharmann%2C+Mathias%22">Scharmann, Mathias</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Skepper%2C+Jeremy%22">Skepper, Jeremy</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Federle%2C+Walter%22">Federle, Walter</searchLink><relatesTo>4</relatesTo>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Proceedings+of+the+Royal+Society+B%3A+Biological+Sciences%22">Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences</searchLink>. 2/22/2013, Vol. 280 Issue 1753, p1-1. 1p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Carnivorous+animals%22">Carnivorous animals</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Predation%22">Predation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Trichomes%22">Trichomes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Pitcher+plants%22">Pitcher plants</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Insect+trapping%22">Insect trapping</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Claws%22">Claws</searchLink>
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  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Trichomes are a common feature of plants and perform important and diverse functions. Here, we show that the inward-pointing hairs on the inner wall of insect-trapping Heliamphora nutans pitchers are highly wettable, causing water droplets to spread rapidly across the surface. Wetting strongly enhanced the slipperiness and increased the capture rate for ants from 29 to 88 per cent. Force measurements and tarsal ablation experiments revealed that wetting affected the insects' adhesive pads but not the claws, similar to the 'aquaplaning' mechanism of (unrelated) Asian Nepenthes pitcher plants. The inward-pointing trichomes provided much higher traction when insects were pulled outwards. The wetness-dependent capture mechanisms of H. nutans and Nepenthes pitchers present a striking case of functional convergence, whereas the use of wettable trichomes constitutes a previously unknown mechanism to make plant surfaces slippery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences is the property of Royal Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1098/rspb.2012.2569
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 1
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    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Carnivorous animals
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Predation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Trichomes
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Pitcher plants
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Insect trapping
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Claws
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: 'Insect aquaplaning' on a superhydrophilic hairy surface: how Heliamphora nutans Benth. pitcher plants capture prey.
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            NameFull: Bauer, Ulrike
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            NameFull: Scharmann, Mathias
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            NameFull: Skepper, Jeremy
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            NameFull: Federle, Walter
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            – D: 22
              M: 02
              Text: 2/22/2013
              Type: published
              Y: 2013
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              Value: 280
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              Value: 1753
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            – TitleFull: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
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