Insect Wings Shred Bacteria To Pieces

Here's another interesting piece from Scientific American. It seems that cicada wings have the ability to shred bacteria.The wings are covered by a vast hexagonal array of 'nanopillars' - blunted spikes on a similar size scale to bacteria.

"When a bacterium settles on the wing surface, its cellular membrane sticks to the surface of the nanopillars and stretches into the crevices between them, where it experiences the most strain. If the membrane is soft enough, it ruptures."