Some aquatic insects, such as beetles, can spend their entire adult lives underwater, despite not being able to hold their breath like humans. This is due to the large bubble of air under their wing covers (elytra), which allows them to suck in air from the water surface and breathe underwater for long periods without coming to the surface. This small bubble of air, a nature-made SCUBA tank, is trapped under their wing case.
By harnessing this air, some aquatic beetles can carry the oxygen they need underwater in the form of a temporary bubble, similar to a natural scuba tank. Researchers discovered that the oxygen levels in the water next to the beetles were significantly reduced, a sign that they absorb oxygen. This allows them to breathe underwater for long periods without coming to the surface.
In conclusion, some aquatic insects can spend their entire adult lives underwater, despite not being able to hold their breath like humans. This is due to the unique design of their hind leg components and the ability to breathe underwater for extended periods without coming to the surface.
📹 Nature’s Scuba Divers: How Beetles Breathe Underwater | Deep Look
Bugs and beetles can’t hold their breath underwater like we do. But some aquatic insects can spend their whole adult lives …
📹 Diving Beetles Are All Natural Scuba Divers
This is one of the most specialized insects in the world, but it has colonized most freshwater ponds and streams in warm and …
Found a Great Diving Beetle randomly while out walking along a beach and had no clue what it was, I’ve spent the last half hour reading about it, it’s pretty cool the kind of things you encounter in nature. It’s like we take all this immense complexity for granted, but just saying, “Oh, well, that’s a beetle, I guess.” I’m glad articles like this exist, thank god we’re a curious species xD
Feel like this needs to be reposted. Regarding ice floating and surface tension… Elliott Kennerson 1 year ago I saw the question about whether surface tension really makes ice float…Good question! You’re right, ice is less dense than water, which is why it floats, according to the principle of buoyancy named by Archimedes. The water molecule’s polar forces—the ones that cause the surface tension phenomena in the piece—ALSO cause ice to freeze in a crystalline pattern that makes it less dense than liquid water. Think about if ice actually sank, the way most solids would in their own liquid. The oceans would have frozen from the bottom up long ago! He answered this question and yet people keep repeating it lol.
I am gonna go out on a limb..naw, not even. Surface tension has nothing to do with ice floating. Check your facts. Ice is less dense than water, that is why it floats. It has to do with the properties of how water molecules geometrically attach when frozen versus when as a liquid. Not a darn thing to do with surface tension. (ok, I read a bunch of comments dealing with this issue after I posted the above comment; it seems I am not the only one. I am sure ya got the message!)
Great article and great footage. Couple of things that I would fix…Riffle beetles definitely live in the water in their larva stage because I find them all the time. I guess I’m not exactly sure where they pupate, but to say they spend their early life on land is inaccurate. They do create that bubble when they first become adults. Also, the plastron serves as a oxygen exchange surface, allowing oxygen to diffuse from the water into the bubble because the concentration of oxygen is higher in the water than the plastron. Therefore it serves a different purpose than the bubble on the tips of the predaceous diving beetle. You didn’t directly say this but didn’t directly say the opposite either, so likely you just didn’t want to get into it.
Superficial tension. Sticky water. Observing microbes in water, they move as if they were inside something gelatinous. If so, then it’s not like they swim, but push against the environment. Maybe a middle ground between swimming and pushing. Push like snakes, which use their scales to help them move.
Hi. What did they mean by surface tension allows ice to float? I thought it ice floats because water is a bent molecule; the bend causes the molecules to freeze in a position such that gaps form, and thus is less dense than water in the liquid state making it float.. I guess I don’t understand where the surface tension comes in.?
Hi folks at Deep Look. If you get chance, check out a BBC documentary called Insect Dissection. It got me hooked on insects, the simplest of facts blew me away. For example: the difference between all other species and insects concerning the respiratory & circulatory systems. Wow. And now I’ve found you, with your beautiful photography and fascinating facts. I am
Cockroaches aren’t as skilled when it comes to scuba diving. Once a cockroach crawled into my shower and landed on his back, he drowned in less than 10 seconds despite my efforts to save him. He went limp for a good two hours but I placed him on a dry towel. 2-3 hours later I walked by and he was sitting there rather dumbfounded but somehow revived..