A high-magnification image taken using a
scanning electron microscope showing a close up of the tiny, pointed adhesive
hairs found on the footpad of the dock beetle (Gastrophysa viridula). The feet
of green dock beetles are covered with thousands of these tiny adhesive hairs,
each no wider than 5 microns (1/200th of a millimetre) across, that allow the
beetle to climb, even over molecularly smooth substrates. Visible in the image
are two distinct hair morphologies, both pointed hairs (foreground) and hairs
with flattened tips (background) that allow the insect to peel each contact
from the surface when it wants to detach. 
A high-magnification image taken using a
scanning electron microscope showing a close up of the pointed adhesive hairs
found on the footpad of the dock beetle (Gastrophysa viridula). The feet of
green dock beetles are covered with thousands of these tiny adhesive hairs,
each no wider than 5 microns (1/200th of a millimetre) across, that allow the
beetle to climb, even over molecularly smooth substrates.
(Date of Images: 2006-2011)
Credit: James Bullock, University of
Cambridge
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