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Evolutionary Biomechanics Group
  • Home
  • Research
    • Insect herbivory
    • Insect adhesion
    • Evolution of advanced materials
  • Output
    • Publications
    • Open Science
    • Posters
  • People
  • Activities
    • Outreach and Events
    • Paper Pizza
    • Pasta Friday
  • Accessibility

POSTERS

SICB_poster_2022_Hendrik
SICB 2022, Phoenix, USA
SICB 2022, Phoenix, USA
SICB 2022, Phoenix, USA
SICB 2022, Phoenix, USA
SICB 2020, Austin, USA
SICB 2020, Austin, USA
SICB 2020, Austin, USA
SICB 2020, Austin, USA
SICB 2020, Austin, USA
SICB 2020, Austin, USA
SICB 2020, Austin, USA
SICB 2020, Austin, USA
Gordon Conference of Adhesion 2019, St Hadley USA
Gordon Conference of Adhesion 2019, St Hadley USA
SEB 2018, Florence | Italy
SEB 2018, Florence | Italy
SEB 2017, Gothenburg, Sweden
SEB 2017, Gothenburg, Sweden
Gordon Conference of Adhesion 2019, St Hadley USA
Gordon Conference of Adhesion 2019, St Hadley USA
Beilstein Conference 2017, Potsdam, Germany
Beilstein Conference 2017, Potsdam, Germany
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Copyright © 2022 Evolutionary Biomechanics Group

Muscle morphology & bite forces

To cut vegetation, leaf-cutter ants need large bite forces produced by strong mandible muscles. In invertebrates, these muscles cannot be packed outside the skeleton, instead, their size is constrained by an outer exoskeleton. So, how do these small insects (most leaf-cutters are only a few mg) manage to produce forces large enough to cut tough leaves?

We approach this question in several ways: First, we measure bite forces of foraging ants. These forces in relation to the mandibular cutting forces determine the ability to cut a given material. Second, we take a closer look inside the head capsule using micro-computed tomography and quantify the size and geometry of the muscle and lever system. We use custom-written algorithms to trace up to several thousand individual muscle fibres per ant and muscle! Third, we develop predictive models enabling us to directly link size and shape of the insect bite apparatus to bite forces and cutting ability.