A Bug’s Life … in a Bubble

Hundreds of insect species live mainly underwater, but how do they breathe? University of Alberta researcher Morris Flynn did a study to find out how these species are able to remain underwater without drowning.

According to Flynn, the rough, waxy surfaces of insects and spiders are water-repellent. In some species, water-repellency is so pronounced that creatures may survive underwater for indefinite periods. This is achieved by an air bubble called a plastron that the insect traps between its body and its hairs, creating an external lung. This lung facilitates oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange with the surrounding water. “The closer together the hairs, the more pressure the bubble can withstand before collapsing,” Flynn says.

Flynn, and his colleagues at MIT in Massachusetts, found these insects cannot survive in deep waters where the pressure results in bubble rupture, nor can they survive in shallow waters where the bubble surface area is too small. “We were surprised by the fact that, in some cases, bugs may be unable to survive in shallow water. But we did discover they can safely dive as deep as 30 metres.”

Flynn did this research while he was at MIT in Massachusetts. He is now continuing his work in the department of mechanical engineering at the University of Alberta.

This research is in the August 10 issue of the Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

Media Contact

Newswise Science News

More Information:

http://www.ualberta.ca

All latest news from the category: Life Sciences and Chemistry

Articles and reports from the Life Sciences and chemistry area deal with applied and basic research into modern biology, chemistry and human medicine.

Valuable information can be found on a range of life sciences fields including bacteriology, biochemistry, bionics, bioinformatics, biophysics, biotechnology, genetics, geobotany, human biology, marine biology, microbiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, zoology, bioinorganic chemistry, microchemistry and environmental chemistry.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors