Butterflies and moths are admired for their colorful wings, but it’s their feeding tube — the proboscis — that’s catching engineers’ attention. A 2025 study involving MSE Professor Dr. Kostya Kornev and his research team revealed that this delicate structure acts like a miniature hydraulic spring, offering inspiration for advanced micro-scale technologies.
The proboscis is made of two crescent-shaped tubes of chitin, a tough yet lightweight natural material. Using X-ray scattering, researchers found that the tiny chitin fibers inside each wall are arranged in different directions, giving one side flexibility and the other stiffness. When the insect pumps fluid (hemolymph) into the tube, the softer inner wall bends, causing the coil to unroll. When the pressure drops, the stiffer outer wall springs it back into place — allowing movement without complex muscles or hinges.
This natural design could inspire a new generation of “fiber-based hydraulic springs” in engineering. Small robots, medical tools, or flexible sensors could use similar structures to move or change shape by simply adjusting internal fluid pressure. Imagine a micro-robot that expands, contracts, or grips objects smoothly, or a minimally invasive surgical device that bends gently without gears or motors.
The butterfly’s proboscis shows how evolution combines smart geometry with material science to create efficient motion at tiny scales. By copying these natural mechanics, engineers could build machines that are not only smaller, but also lighter, quieter, and more energy-efficient. The next breakthrough in soft robotics or medical micromachines might just take flight — inspired by a butterfly’s sip of nectar.
To read this article click here.
Citation: The crescent cross-section and dichotomous chitin structure make the proboscis of butterflies and moths a hydraulic spring Yoshioka, T.; Stepanova, T.; Brasovs, A.; Blouin, V. Y.; Beard, C. E.; Adler, P. H.; Kornev, K. G.
