Nanomechanical Behaviours of Cuticle of Three Kinds of Beetle

The surface materials and structures of insect cuticle can provide useful information for designing anti-adhesion components material. Quantitative measurement of mechanical properties of insect cuticle will help to develop biomimetic materials suitable for industrial products. In this work, the mechanical properties, such as the reduced modulus and hardness in nano-scale, of the cuticle of beetle Geotrupes stercorarius Linnaeus, Copris ochus Motschulsky and Holotrichia sichotana Brenske, were investigated by using a nanoindenter. It was found that the reduce modulus and hardness of these three beetles are different. The main cause of the difference of the mechanical properties is probably due to their different living circumstance, lifestyle and different functions of segments.