Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Water-repellent legs of water striders

2004; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 432; Issue: 7013 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/432036a

1476-4687

Xuefeng Gao, Lei Jiang,

Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior

Water striders (Gerris remigis) have remarkable non-wetting legs that enable them to stand effortlessly and move quickly on water, a feature believed to be due to a surface-tension effect caused by secreted wax1,2,3. We show here, however, that it is the special hierarchical structure of the legs, which are covered by large numbers of oriented tiny hairs (microsetae) with fine nanogrooves, that is more important in inducing this water resistance.