LAUSR

Significance Insect wings present striking examples of automatic shape morphing in both nature and technology, the mechanisms of which are not fully understood. Here, we present a new discovery from wings of a flying beetle that can shed light on wing shape changes in flight: an unusual bell-shaped structure, which is compliant in one direction and almost 10 times stiffer in the opposite direction. Our results show that the structure is an effective one-way hinge that achieves functionality using a single material with no extra mass. The use of the insect-inspired hinge in applications, including easily assemblable modular designs, adaptive airless tires, and metamaterials with zero Poisson’s ratio, suggests that the structure can have biomimetic applications over a considerable size range.