Morphological and structural characteristics of the elytra reduce impact damage to ladybird beetles.

[Display omitted] • Ladybird beetles showed a propensity to touch the ground with the costal edge of the elytra during falling. • Theoretical models uncovered the mechanism of reducing impact damage. • The morphology of elytra facilitates converting translational to rotational energy. • The hollow microstructure of the costal edge can absorb the residual impact energy. Beetle elytra act as natural protective covers and effectively shield their flexible abdomens and fragile hindwings from damage. The existing studies have attributed this contribution of the elytra to its honeycomb structures. In this combined experimental and theoretical study, we used the seven-spotted ladybird beetle to demonstrate that both biological morphology and the hollow structure of the dome-like elytra combined to reduce damage during falling. The falling ladybird beetles had a high probability (59.52%) of hitting the ground with the costal edge of the elytra. This strategy could assist with converting the translational energy into rotational kinetic energy, resulting in the reduction of the impulse during falling. In addition, the hollow structures on the elytra could further absorb the residual impact energy. In the future, this biological paradigm could be used as a basis for the development of falling/landing techniques for advanced robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]