Metals and their Functional Role in the Structures of Invertebrates

Matthew S. Lehnert is a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Kent State University at Stark, North Canton, OH, USA. He has a PhD in Entomology from University of Florida and now conducts interdisciplinary research on the functional morphology of structures, particularly insect mouthparts and the metals in the cuticle of cicadas.

• Chapter 1: Invertebrates are heavy metal: An overview of armor, weapons, and other cuticular adaptations of diverse lineages.- Chapter 2: The metal-enriched head cuticle of velvet ants (Mutillidae): a new special feature of the "indestructible insects".- Chapter 3: The presence and distribution of transition metals and other inorganic elements in the cuticle of cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae).- Chapter 4: Sticky, tough, fast-setting glue: How metal ions make Arion subfuscus mucus into a potent defensive secretion.- Chapter 5: Element sensitive synchrotron-based X-ray tomography as a technique for studying transition metals in the cuticle of insects.- Chapter 6: Diversity of mineral systems, material compositions and mechanical properties in molluscan radulae.- Chapter 7: Formation and function of metal coordination cross-linking in Mytilus mussel byssus.- Chapter 8: Microwear analysis and functional morphology of claws of the Florida stone crab, Menippe mercenaria.