Despite its lack of the slightest semblance of grace, with some of its brightest cousins, the Diabolical ironclad beetle has a stone-like outer structure, and that provides it with the rigidity that enables this type of beetles to resist being stomped by cars or being crushed under Feet or to be a catch for predators.
This sturdy exterior design attracted scientists' interest, as they wanted to know the secrets that make it one of the most powerful natural materials in the world.
In the study published in Nature on October 21, scientists used a set of tools to discover the physical and mechanical properties that give the demon beetle these amazing abilities.
Incredible hold
The armored beetle of the type (Phloeodes diabolicus) inhabits wooded areas along the western coast of the United States, and is about two centimeters long, and like the rest of its kind, this beetle does not fly, as the cover of its wings hardens and fuses together to form that solid black shield that protects it from trampling.
Recently, scientists from the University of California-Irvine and Purdue University in the Americas revealed the harshness of this shield, as they found that this demonic armored vehicle could survive even if it was run over by anything weighing 39,000 times It weighs, and to imagine that we can liken it to a human weighing 90 kg who can handle the weight of 280 double-decker buses.
Natural armor
According to the Purdue University press release, University of California-Irvine materials scientist David Kisailus describes this beetle as "ground armored. It is not lightweight and fast, but rather looks a lot like a small tank."
"This is how these beetles that do not fly in front of their enemies are prepared," he added. "All they have to do is stay in place and give their shield specially designed for such tasks to take over until the predator surrenders."
The team collected samples of these beetles from the Inland Empire, California, and then tested how much strength the beetle shield could hold, and then compared their results to other beetle species in the same area.
Scientists have found that other beetles are able to withstand a force of up to 68 newtons (the newton is the unit of force in the international measurement system).
In contrast, the demon beetle was able to carry a maximum force of 149 Newtons, which was 39,000 times its weight.
The armored beetle is 2 cm long (Shaun Hanrahan, Texas University of Agricultural and Mechanical Sciences-Wikipedia)
The external structure of the beetle was somewhat explained by its durability, but the biggest mystery lay in the solid front "wing covers" (Elytra) that acted as shields to protect the more fragile hind wings, which were used by the insect in the past in flight.
And because this type of beetles had abandoned its ability to fly, the stiffness of the front wing coverings increased, so they bonded with each other to form these protective shields.
The team also found that the exoskeleton consisted of chitin, a fibrous material derived from glucose, in addition to a matrix of tightly bound proteins that form a network of insoluble intertwine fibers, and the exoskeleton of the beetle contained a protein weighing 10 percent. % More than other beetles.
Seams separate to distribute the force on the body of the beetle (uric allert)
Heavy Weight Mechanism
But the question remained: How is the beetle able to withstand this much overload compared to its beetle counterparts?
The team noticed that the armored beetle has many pieces of "wing cover" that fuse together when compared to other beetles, and the dividing line - with which the wing coverings are joined - is the main reason that gives it the ability to endure, so when the beetles are exposed to large weights, these lines They come apart without being crushed, which helps distribute the force on the body evenly.
This is confirmed by Pablo Zavateri, professor of materials science at Purdue University, saying, "These lines of connection connect many of the blades of the exoskeleton, such as the assembly of puzzle pieces together."
This discovery will pave the way for the development of more durable engineering building materials, and it will also help design safer engines for aircraft.