How Do Insects Stay So Healthy? Their Wings Shred Bacteria

Have you ever come across an insect with an upset stomach , or bleed a high fever ? Probably not . But why is that , other than the fact that you ’re too busy squashing them to notice ? It turns out that some insects havewings cover in nano - scale of measurement spikesthat naturally tear bacterium to pieces .

canvass the clanger cicada , biophysicists discovered hexangular arrays of microscopical nano - scale blunt spikes cover the surface of their wing . And when bacterium lands on these surfaces , it has a natural tendency to hang into the valleys between these spikes , which stretches its out bed until it shoot down and dies . Similar to how an over - filled plastic pocketbook will elongate sparse until it eventually ruptures .

And besides providing more trial impression that our worm brethren will probably outlive us all , the same proficiency could be used to make microscopic nano - spike coating for public surfaces like doorknob or railing that would mechanically wipe out bacterium without the need for harmful chemical substance . [ NatureviaPopular Science ]