How Humidity Makes Gecko Feet Stickier: Softens Setae to Tighten Gecko’s Grip

Human adhesives are famed for their fallibility. Gooey glues soon lose their grip, are easily contaminated and leave residues behind. But not gecko feet. Geckos can cling on repeatedly to the smoothest surfaces thanks to the self-cleaning microscopic spatula-shaped hairs (setae) that coat the soles of their feet.

ack in 2002, Kellar Autumn found that these dry hairs are in such intimate contact with surfaces that the reptiles ‘glue’ themselves on by van der Waals forces with no need for fluid adhesives. More recent studies had suggested that geckos might benefit from additional adhesion in humid environments through capillary action provided by microscopic droplets of water sandwiched between setae and the surface.

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