Natalya Y. Ermakov

Electrical, thermoelectric and thermophysical properties of hornet cuticle

Seebeck effect (thermo-emf), thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity of social hornet cuticle were measured in a direction perpendicular to the cuticular surface. The obtained value of the Seebeck coefficient (S) was about 3 ± 0.5 mV K−1 and its sign corresponded to an n-type (electronic) conductivity. Hornet cuticle is shown to be a fairly good heat insulator, with recorded values of the heat conductivity as low as 0.1–0.2 W m−1 K−1. The measured value of the electrical conductivity in the linear regime is σ = 8.5 × 10−5 Ω−1 cm−1. The thermoelectric figure of merit is computed. Implications for possible exploitation as a natural thermoelectric heat pump are discussed.

Xanthopterin in the Oriental Hornet (Vespa orientalis): Light Absorbance Is Increased with Maturation of Yellow Pigment Granules

The Oriental hornet bears both brown and yellow colors on its cuticle. The brown component is contributed by the pigment melanin, which is dispersed in the brown cuticle and provides protection against insolation, while the yellow‐colored part contains within pockets in the cuticle granules possessing a yellow pigment. These yellow granules (YG) are formed about 2 days prior to eclosion of the imago, and their production continues for about 3 days posteclosion. Xanthopterin is the main component of the granule and lends it its yellow color. Xanthopterin produces a characteristic excitation/emission maximum at 386/456 nm. Characterization by use of mass spectrometry showed the compound to have a molecular ion of 179, as expected from xanthopterin. Spectroscopic examination of the absorption of an entire stripe of yellow cuticle in the course of its metamorphosis revealed that the absorption steadily increases throughout the process to a maximal level of absorption about 3 days posteclosion. In the absence of the YG, the cuticle is permeable to the passage of all wavelengths within the visible range and to the UV range (290–750 nm) in all age groups of hornets. The newly ecloded hornets depart the nest to engage in activities requiring exposure to insolation only as the process of granule formation terminates, namely, when the layer of YG in the cuticle suffices to absorb all the harmful UV radiation.

Ventilating Hornets Display Differential Body Temperature

Our investigation entailed a thermal analysis of hornets engaging in ventilation activity at the nest entrance. In the hot summer months, between July–October, ventilating worker hornets are seen just outside the nest entrance, where they assume a typical stance, namely, with their feet erect and fastened to the substrate, their abdomen bent downward at a 90◦ angle to the thorax, their antennae vibrating, and their wings beating rapidly for minutes at a time. Eventually these hornets leave their position, either to retreat into the nest or else to fly off to the field, and are replaced by new hornets that assume the ventilation task. Infra-red (IR) photography reveals that in the course of the ventilation activity, the warmest region in the ventilating hornet body is the anterior upper part of the thorax, and the coolest regions are the wings, limbs, antennae and abdomen. This study involved precise and repeated measurements via IR photography of the temperature in the various body parts of the ventilating hornets, and it also offers a preliminary, tentative explanation for the observed differential body temperature. The communication value of the color of the hornet body when ventilating is discussed.

N-Methyl-trimethylacetamide in Thin Films Displays Infrared Spectra of π-Helices, with Visible Static and Dynamic Growth Phases, and then a β-Sheet

The simplest (minimal) peptide model is HCONHCH3. An increase in the π-helix content with increased substitution in the acyl portion suggested the examination of N-methyl-trimethylacetamide) (NMT). NMT displays spectra, in which there is evolution of a set of helices defined by their amide I maxima near 1686 (3(10)), 1655 (first π), and, most importantly, at 1637 cm(-1) (π). Expanded thin-film infrared spectroscopy (XTFIS) shows pauses or slow stages, which are identified as static phases followed by dynamic phases with the incremental gain or loss of a helix turn. In addition, absorbance at 1637 cm(-1) suddenly increases at 82.1 s (30% over 0.3 s), indicating a phase change and crystallization of the π-helix, along with a coincidental decrease in the absorbance for the first π-helix. A sharp peak occurs at the maximum of the phase change at 82.5 s, representing a pure NMT π-helix. The spectra then undergo a decreasing general absorption loss over 150 s, with the π-helix evolving further to an antiparallel β-sheet fragment. The spectral quality arises from the immobilization of polar molecules on polar surfaces. The crystal structure is that of an antiparallel β-sheet.