Insects use lubricants to minimize friction and wear in leg joints.

ABSTRACT: A protein-based lubricating substance is discovered in the femoro-tibial joint of the darkling beetle Zophobas morio (Insecta). The substance extrudes to the contacting areas within the joint and appears in a form of filiform flows and short cylindrical fragments. The extruded lubricating substance effectively reduces the coefficient of sliding friction to the value of 0.13 in the tribosystem glass/lubricant/glass. This value is significantly lower than 0.35 in the control tribosystem glass/glass and comparable to the value of 0.14 for the tribosystem glass/dry PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene or Teflon). The study shows for the first time that the friction-reducing mechanism found in Z. morio femoro-tibial joints is based on the lubricant spreading over the

SUBMITTER: Nadein K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8261218 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature