The effect of aging on the mechanical behaviour of cuticle in the locust Schistocerca gregaria

Despite some previous work on the morphology and mechanical properties of parts of the insect exoskeleton, there is very little known about how these properties change over time during the life of the insect. We examined the hind tibia of the adult desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) as a function of time up to 63 days following the final moult, a much longer period that previously studied. We identified an initial growth phase, lasting on average 21 days, in which leg thickness increased rapidly (averaging 1.8 μm/day) by endocuticle deposition, and a subsequent mature phase in which the deposition rate slowed to 0.3 μm/day. Cantilever bending tests revealed that Young's modulus and failure stress also increased rapidly during the growth phase, but remained almost constant during the mature phase, with average values of 8.3 GPa (± 2.3 GPa) and 175 MPa (±31.5 MPa) respectively, which are considerably higher than previously measured for fresh insect cuticle. Biomechanical analysis showed that the failure mode also changed, from local buckling of the tubular leg during the growth phase to failure at the material's ultimate strength in the mature phase. Over time, the ratio of radius/thickness of the leg decreased, passing through the estimated optimal value which would confer the best strength/weight ratio. This is the first ever biomechanical study to track changes in arthropod cuticle over a large part of adult life of the animal, and has revealed some unexpected and complex changes which may shed light on how arthropods regulate their load-bearing skeletal parts during aging.