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It does this by controlling its ascent with its legs, Van Breugel reported here last week at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.
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To keep from getting wet, it has to surface upright and not disrupt the air layer prematurely. When it emerges at last, the fly pops out and flies away, completely dry. Using high-speed video and special platforms that measure how much force the insect exerts as it crawls into the water, Van Breugel compared the fly's activity in the lab in both typical freshwater and water from Mono Lake.Īs it carefully crawls into the water, the insect's water-repellent coat and microscopic hairs trap a layer of air next to the body that keeps the water out. Thus protected from the deadly saltwater, it can dive up to 2 meters to feed and lay its eggs. To breathe, most diving insects trap and carry small air bubbles.īut the brine fly goes to extremes, Floris van Breugel, a neuroethologist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena has discovered, completely encasing itself in a layer of air. Unless a diving insect gets up enough force to submerge itself, it can pop right back out like a cork. Their waxy outer coats repel water like oil, sometimes to such a degree that they have trouble slipping under the surface. Lots of insects can submerge themselves in freshwater for hours-and even days-at a time. In turn, they provide tasty meals to millions of spiders and migratory birds, establishing themselves as a key link in the lake's food web.īut just diving into the water doesn't make the flies special. They eat algae clinging to stones on the shore and underwater rocks. But come summer, its shores are crawling with Ephydra hydropyrus, brine flies that are slightly smaller than the common house fly. The only year-round inhabitants are photosynthetic algae and tiny shrimp that thrive in the brine. Mono Lake is three times saltier and much more alkaline than the ocean, making it a challenge for anything to live there. The trick, according to a new study: an air "submarine" the insect builds to protect itself from the extreme environment. But like a tiny Evel Knievel, the brine fly dives straight into the soup. Not even fish live beneath its alkaline surface. PORTLAND, OREGON-For most animals, the salty waters of Mono Lake mean death.