Researchers report a method for designing biomimetic deployable structures based on earwig wings. Earwig wings are capable of extreme compactness when fully folded, reaching packing areas of approximately 1/15th the original wing surface. The features of the earwig wing, such as self-folding properties, are useful for multiple engineering applications, but the geometrical rules governing earwig wing folding are poorly understood. Kazuya Saito and colleagues identified the geometrical requirements for designing an earwig-inspired fan, based on data obtained from X-ray microcomputed tomography of real folded earwig hind wings. The authors developed a geometrical drawing method for creating a pattern that meets these requirements as well as software that can implement the method to design fan-like structures of varying sizes and shapes. Using the method, the authors recreated the wing folding pattern of a Paleozoic earwig relative, Protelytron permianum, and identified possible evolutionary pathways from P. permianum's wing folding to that of extant earwigs. The results could be used as a starting point for designing earwig-inspired deployable structures and for exploring morphofunctional constraints on the evolution of biological structures, according to the authors.
Article #20-05769: "Earwig fan designing: Biomimetic and evolutionary biology applications," by Kazuya Saito et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Kazuya Saito, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, JAPAN; tel: +81-92-553-4554; e-mail: k-saito@design.kyushu-u.ac.jp; Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente, Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford, UNITED KINGDOM; e-mail: ricardo.perez-de-lafuente@oum.ox.ac.uk
A high resolution image, along with caption are credit information can be found at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AKPNBVI0PvxBQEr7eIpR1gpu2-7eWteV?usp=sharing
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Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences