CHAPTER 13. Anti‐adhesive Surfaces in Plants and Their Biomimetic Potential

Abstract

The long period of reciprocal antagonistic co‐evolution between some insects and plant species led to the development of plant surface attributes that reduce insect attachment. These attributes serve as a defence against herbivores and nectar robbers or to prevent the escape of insects from traps of carnivorous plants. This chapter summarizes results of our previous experimental studies as well as numerous literature data on attachment‐mediated insect–plant interactions and shows the effect of plant surfaces on insect attachment. The role of different plant surface structures, such as idioblasts with a peculiar cell shape and orientation, trichomes, wet coverage, cuticular folds, three‐dimensional epicuticular waxes and their hierarchical combinations, in preventing insect attachment is demonstrated and their ecological and biomimetic implications are discussed.