Imperial College London
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DrDavidLabonte

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Bioengineering

Senior Lecturer
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 5679d.labonte Website

 
 
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Location

 

B213DBessemer BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Labonte:2021:10.1016/j.actbio.2020.11.005,
author = {Labonte, D and Robinson, A and Bauer, U and Federle, W},
doi = {10.1016/j.actbio.2020.11.005},
journal = {Acta Biomaterialia},
pages = {225--233},
title = {Disentangling the role of surface topography and intrinsic wettability in the prey capture mechanism of Nepenthes pitcher plants.},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2020.11.005},
volume = {119},
year = {2021}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Nepenthes pitcher plants capture prey with leaves specialised as pitfall traps. Insects are trapped when they 'aquaplane' on the pitcher rim (peristome), a surface structured with macroscopic and microscopic radial ridges. What is the functional significance of this hierarchical surface topography? Here, we use insect pad friction measurements, photolithography, wetting experiments and physical modelling to demonstrate that the ridges enhance the trap's efficacy by satisfying two functional demands on prey capture: Macroscopic ridges restrict lateral but enhance radial spreading of water, thereby creating continuous slippery tracks which facilitate prey capture when little water is present. Microscopic ridges, in turn, ensure that the water film between insect pad and peristome remains stable, causing insects to aquaplane. In combination, the hierarchical ridge structure hence renders the peristome wettable, and water films continuous, so avoiding the need for a strongly hydrophilic surface chemistry, which would compromise resistance to desiccation and attract detrimental contamination.
AU  - Labonte,D
AU  - Robinson,A
AU  - Bauer,U
AU  - Federle,W
DO  - 10.1016/j.actbio.2020.11.005
EP  - 233
PY  - 2021///
SN  - 1742-7061
SP  - 225
TI  - Disentangling the role of surface topography and intrinsic wettability in the prey capture mechanism of Nepenthes pitcher plants.
T2  - Acta Biomaterialia
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2020.11.005
UR  - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33189952
UR  - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1742706120306486?via%3Dihub
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/84985
VL  - 119
ER  -
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