How do gerbils and darkling beetles survive the scarcity of water in the desert?
Answers
Answer:
Darkling beetles (family Tenebrionidae) of the Namib Desert, located on the southwest coast of Africa, live in one of the driest habitats in the world. But some species of Darkling beetle can get the water they need from dew and ocean fog, using their very own body surfaces. Several researchers are studying the beetles, as well as synthetic surfaces inspired by the beetle’s body, to uncover the roles that structure, chemistry, and behavior play in capturing water from the air. Micro-sized grooves or bumps on the beetle’s hardened forewings can help condense and direct water toward the beetle’s awaiting mouth, while a combination of hydrophilic (water attracting) and hydrophobic (water repelling) areas on these structures may increase fog- and dew-harvesting efficiency. For certain species of Darkling beetle, the act of facing into the foggy wind and sticking its rear end up in the air (known as fog-basking behavior) is thought to be just as important as body surface structure for successfully harvesting water from the air.
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Answer:
Gerbils keep
themselves cool in underground burrows during the hottest part of the day. The Darkling
beetles catch drops of moisture on their legs.