Under- and over-water halves of Gyrinidae beetle eyes harbor different corneal nanocoatings providing adaptation to the water and air environments.
Details
State: Public
Version: Final published version
Serval ID
serval:BIB_7364D2F4AB2E
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Under- and over-water halves of Gyrinidae beetle eyes harbor different corneal nanocoatings providing adaptation to the water and air environments.
Journal
Scientific Reports
ISSN
2045-2322 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
2045-2322
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2014
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
4
Pages
6004
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal ArticlePublication Status: epublish
Abstract
Whirligig beetles (Gyrinidae) inhabit water surfaces and possess unique eyes which are split into the overwater and underwater parts. In this study we analyze the micro- and nanostructure of the split eyes of two Gyrinidae beetles genera, Gyrinus and Orectochilus. We find that corneae of the overwater ommatidia are covered with maze-like nanostructures, while the corneal surface of the underwater eyes is smooth. We further show that the overwater nanostructures possess no anti-wetting, but the anti-reflective properties with the spectral preference in the range of 450-600 nm. These findings illustrate the adaptation of the corneal nanocoating of the two halves of an insect's eye to two different environments. The novel natural anti-reflective nanocoating we describe may find future technological applications.
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
19/09/2014 17:00
Last modification date
20/10/2020 8:19