The Secretion Process of Liquid Silk with Nanopillar Structures from Stenopsyche marmorata (Trichoptera: Stenopsychidae)

Stenopsyche marmorata larvae spin underwater adhesive silk for constructing nests and capture nets. The silk can be divided into fiber and adhesive regions, according to their function. The silk fiber region has a two-layer structure: a core layer situated at the center of the fiber and S. marmorata fibroin, the major component of the silk. In the anterior part of the anterior silk gland, the morphological characteristics suggest that the silk insolubilization leading to fibrillation occurs by luminal pH neutralization. The adhesive region is composed of three layers: the outermost (OM), B, and C layers. On the B layer, coated with the OM layer, numerous nano-order pillar structures (nanopillar structures) are located at regular intervals. A nanopillar structure is approximately 40 nm in diameter and 125 nm in length. The precursor materials of the nanopillar structure are electron-dense globules of approximately 25 nm in diameter that are located in the A layer of the lumen of the middle silk gland. The precursor globules autonomously connect to one another on the B layer when the liquid silk is transported to the lumen of the bulbous region. The nanopillar structures probably contribute to the strong underwater adhesion of S. marmorata silk.