Also: wet adhesion, arolia, beetle tarsi
Soft, fluid-coated pads let frogs, ants and beetles stick to smooth surfaces.
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Federle and colleagues found tree frog toe pad attachment is significantly enhanced by boundary friction, not just capillary and viscous forces from mucus.
As reported in: Federle, Barnes, Baumgartner et al. (2006). Wet but not slippery: boundary friction in tree frog adhesive toe pads. Journal of The Royal Society Interface. doi:10.1098/rsif.2006.0135
Federle studied the mechanics and wet adhesion of the foldable pretarsal pads (arolia) of weaver ants.
As reported in: Federle (2002). An Integrative Study of Insect Adhesion: Mechanics and Wet Adhesion of Pretarsal Pads in Ants. Integrative and Comparative Biology. doi:10.1093/icb/42.6.1100
Abstract only
Eisner and Aneshansley found the beetle Hemisphaerota cyanea presses about 60,000 adhesive bristles down when attacked, resisting pulls about 60 times its body mass for 2 minutes.
As reported in: Eisner, Aneshansley (2000). Defense by foot adhesion in a beetle ( Hemisphaerota cyanea ). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi:10.1073/pnas.97.12.6568