PREVIOUS
✖
Alkali flies thrive in salty waters
November 22 , 2017
2365 days
959
0
- A small fly that thrives at an inhospitable California lake east of Yosemite National Park. The diving flies (Ephydra hians) plunge without getting wet in a lake that is three times as salty as the ocean, containing water that feels almost oily because of its very high pH and levels of sodium carbonate and borax.
- The strange fly crawls into the severely salty and alkaline water, then emerges dry out of the water.
- These quarter-inch-long (6-mm) alkali flies are covered in a large quantity of fine hairs coated with special waxes that let them encapsulate themselves in a body-hugging bubble that protects them from water.
Leave a Reply
Your Comment is awaiting moderation.