Cicada Shells as Chemical Education Resources to Study Functional Groups and Environmental Cycles

Naoki Maruyama¹ and Toratane Munegumi^1,

¹The Joint Graduate School (Ph.D. Program) in Science of School Education, Hyogo University of Teacher Education,

Cite this paper

Naoki Maruyama and Toratane Munegumi. Cicada Shells as Chemical Education Resources to Study Functional Groups and Environmental Cycles. World Journal of Chemical Education. 2023; 11(4):127-133. doi: 10.12691/WJCE-11-4-1

Abstract

Cicada shells are widely available and have been used to teach insect anatomy; their tactile nature is ideal for students who are reluctant to handle living insects. The main component of cicada shells is chitin, which has a polymer structure of N-acetylglucosamine that produces an amorphous gel in neutral aqueous solutions. Glucosamine has a reducing group (hemiacetal structure) and an amino group, and these functional groups can be detected with Benedict reagent and ninhydrin, respectively. This research proposes a procedure to detect the glucosamine structural features present in cicada shells and highlights the link between chemicals in the cicada shells and the environment. Cicada shells can thus be useful for teaching classes about chemicals and their role in the environment.

Keywords

cicada shells, chitin, glucosamine, educational materials, environmental cycles

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References

[1]	Matsuura, Y., Moriyama, M., Łukasik, P., Vanderpool, D., Tanahashi, M., Meng, X.-Y., McCutcheon, J.P., Fukatsu, T. “Recurrent symbiont recruitment from fungal parasites in cicadas”, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 115 (26), E5970–E5979, September 2019.
[2]	Williams, K.S., Simon, C., “The ecology, behavior, and evolution of periodical cicadas”, Annu. Rev. Entomol., 40, 269–295, 1995.
[3]	Maruyama, N., Terashima, Y., Munegumi, T., “Meaning and application using ‘cicada shells’ as teaching materials for observation of insect’s structure: Practical lessons for teaching training education”, Journal of Japan Society of School Subject Content Education, 7 (1), 17–28, March 2021.
[4]	Donahue, C.J., Marini, A., Savu, C., Yehya, H., “Electroless deposition on three substrates: Brass washers, cicada exoskeletons, and beetles”, J. Chem. Ed., 96 (10), 2279–2285, July 2019.
[5]	Hudson, R., Glaisher, S., Bishop, A., Katz, J.L., “From lobster shells to plastic objects: A bioplastics activity”, J. Chem. Ed., 92 (11), 1882–1885, August 2015.
[6]	Luzzi, E., Ambrogi, V., Filippone, G., Liguori, B., de Luna, M.S., Aprea, P., “Increasing awareness of materials and the environment: Hands-on outreach activity presenting water purification materials and concepts”, J. Chem. Ed., 98 (4), 1296–1301. March 2021.
[7]	Kobayashi, S., Kiyosada, T., Shoda, S., “Synthesis of artificial chitin: Irreversible catalytic behavior of a glycosyl hydrolase through a transition state analogue substrate”, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 118 (51), 13113–13114, December 1996.
[8]	Tews, I., van Scheltinga, A.C.T., Perrakis, A., Wilson, K.S., Dijkstra, B.W., “Substrate-assisted catalysis unifies two families of chitinolytic enzymes”, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 119 (34), 7954–7959, August 1997.
[9]	Brameld, K.A., Goddard III, W.A., “The role of enzyme distortion in the sight displacement mechanism of family 19 chitinases”, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 95 (8), 4276–4281, April 1998.
[10]	Ohno, T., Armand, S., Hata, T., Nikaidou, N., Henrissat, B., Mitsutomi, M., Watanabe, T., “A modular family 19 chitinase found in the prokaryotic organism Streptomyces griseus HUT 6037”, J. Bacteriol., 178 (17), 5065–5070, September 1996.
[11]	Thakur, D., Bairwa, A., Dipta, B., Jhilta, P., Chauhan, A., “An overview of fungal chitinases and their potential applications”, Protoplasma, 260 (4), 1031–1046, February 2023.
[12]	Vardanis, A. “Glycogen synthesis in the insect fat body”, Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 73 (4), 565–573, August 1963.
[13]	Kramer, K.J., Koga, D., “Insect chitin: Physical state, synthesis, degradation and metabolic regulation”, Insect Biochem., 16 (6), 851–877, June 1986.
[14]	Muthukrishnan, S., Merzendorfer, H., Arakane, Y., Kramer, K.J., “Chitin metabolism in insects”, Insect Mol. Biol. Biochem., 193–235, 2012.
[15]	Cheung, W.W.K., Marshall, A.T., “Water and ion regulation in cicadas in relation to xylem feeding”, J. Insect Physiol., 19 (9), 1801–1816, September 1973.
[16]	Christensen, H., Fogel, M.L., “Feeding ecology and evidence for amino acid synthesis in the periodical cicada (Magicicada)”, J. Insect Physiol., 57 (1), 211–219, January 2011.