Haematophagous ectoparasites must ensure a reliable hold to their host during blood meals and, therefore, have evolved a broad spectrum of versatile and effective attachment mechanisms. The Mediterranean medicinal leech (Hirudo verbana), for example, uses suction on both smooth and textured air-tight substrates. However, preliminary studies showed that H. verbana is also capable of attaching itself to air-permeable substrates, where suction does not work. Using high-speed videography and mechanical tests, we comparatively investigated the attachment of H. verbana on both smooth and textured air-tight as well as on porous artificial substrates, also considering the influence of mucus on sucker surfaces. In general, the leech-specific locomotion cycle did not differ between the tested surfaces, and the leeches were able to reliably attach to both air-tight and porous substrates. From our results, we conclude that suction is presumably the primary attachment mechanism of H. verbana. However, secondary mechanisms such as mechanical interlocking with surface asperities and pores or capillary forces occurring at the interface between the mucus-covered suckers and the substratum are also employed. In any case, the rich repertoire of applicable attachment principles renders the organs of H. verbana functionally highly resilient.

中文翻译：

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探索地中海药用水蛭（水蛭）对多孔基质的附着

吸血性外寄生虫必须确保在吸血过程中可靠地附着在宿主身上，因此，它们已经进化出广泛的通用和有效的附着机制。例如，地中海药用水蛭（Hirudo verbana）在光滑和有纹理的气密基材上使用吸力。然而，初步研究表明，马鞭草也能够将​​自身附着在透气性基材上，在那里吸力不起作用。使用高速摄像和机械测试，我们比较研究了马鞭草在光滑和有纹理的气密以及多孔人造基材上的附着，还考虑了粘液对吸盘表面的影响。一般来说，水蛭特定的运动周期在测试表面之间没有差异，并且水蛭能够可靠地附着在气密和多孔基材上。根据我们的结果，我们得出结论，吸力可能是马鞭草的主要附着机制。然而，还采用了次要机制，例如与表面凹凸不平和孔隙或毛细管力发生在粘液覆盖的吸盘和基质之间的界面处的机械互锁。无论如何，丰富的适用依恋原则使马鞭草的器官在功能上具有高度的弹性。还采用了次要机制，例如与表面粗糙和孔隙的机械互锁或发生在粘液覆盖的吸盘和基质之间的界面处的毛细管力。无论如何，丰富的适用依恋原则使马鞭草的器官在功能上具有高度弹性。还采用了次要机制，例如与表面凹凸不平和孔隙或毛细管力发生在粘液覆盖的吸盘和基质之间的界面处的机械互锁。无论如何，丰富的适用依恋原则使马鞭草的器官在功能上具有高度的弹性。