How do insects climb walls and other flat surfaces and stay attached?
In: Biology
There are two ways insects are able to hold on to surfaces; tiny hairs and adhesive pads.
Many insects like common houseflies have a large number of very tiny hairs on the bottom of their feet. They can use these hairs to hold on to microscopic bumps in surfaces. The hairs work pretty much like a human rock climber’s hands and feet but the difference is that they have thousands of these hairs and all of them combined are enough to hold the tiny weight of the insect.
Some insects, like grasshoppers, have tiny adhesive pads on their feet. Different insects have different types of adhesive pads but they too usually contain numerous hairs and secrete an oily substance that causes the tips of the hairs to adhere to the surface similar to how a wet shirt adheres to our skin.
Google an image of gecko feet. Their millions of tiny hairs have thousands of tiny hairs that are so small they interact with the Van der Waals forces, essentially they use the electron forces of the molecules they are holding on to. It’s incredibly fascinating and is the basis for new dry film adhesives coming out.
Some bugs have tiny “paws” with little pads that have this glue-like liquid that helps them stick to walls. Others might have have paws with claws (some species of moths, some spiders, etc.) that help them grip onto certain surfaces.
Basically remember the Toby Spiderman scene where a bunch if hooks start growing out if his fingers? That
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