Paul D Stewart / Photomontage of living gecko feet showing a variety of forms. Gecko feet employ very small subdivided filaments to bond with their substrates at the molecular level using Van Der Waals' forces. Every...

SINCLAIR STAMMERS / Light photomicrograph of Blue green algae / Cyanobacteria (Nostoc sp) capable of nitrogen fixation, and used for soil enrichment especially with rice cultivation. The long filaments are composed of in...

Jan Hamrsky / Minnow mayfly nymph (Ephemeroptera, family Baetidae) abdomen and caudal filaments detail, Europe, May, controlled conditions

Nick Garbutt / Veins and filaments of a leaf after decomposition. Lowland rainforest, Masoala National Park, Madagascar.

Tim Laman / Fulgorid planthopper (family Fulgoroidea) nymph with body covered in secreted white waxy filaments, to conceal it. Borneo, South east Asia

Tim Laman / Plant hopper nymph (superfamily Fulgoroidea) with a false "tail" formed of waxy residue of sugars discharged after the hopper extracts nutrients from sap. The filaments will break away if a bird tries...

Nick Upton / Male Banded demoiselle damselfly (Calopteryx splendens) feeding on the remnants of a Green drake mayfly (Ephemera danica) having discarded the three tail filaments and two legs, Wiltshire, UK, summer

Piotr Naskrecki / Planthopper nymph showing waxy filaments, Atewa Range, Ghana

Doug Perrine / Porbeagle shark {Lamna nasus} (captive, caught for research) with dorsal fin exposed, showing white patch at rear base of fin that is diagnostic of the species, and copepod parasite (two filaments) at...

Albert Lleal / Moorish Wall Gecko (Tarentola mauritanica) SEM close-up view of the adhesive filaments on the bottom of the foot at 16.5x magnification

PREMAPHOTOS / Whitefly nymphs (Aleyrodidae) protected by the long filaments of wax they produce, in rainforest, Queensland, Australia

Kim Taylor / Woolly aphids covered in wax filaments {Aphididae} on douglas fir tree. UK.