In addition, the shell is made out of a slick wax that resembles Teflon so water easily flows off its body and into the mouth. Scientists in Australia are developing an entirely different fog collection strategy modeled after the Stenocara beetle of the Namib Desert.The Namib Desert in southwest Africa is one of the driest places on earth, receiving less than 2 centimeters of rain annually, but night and morning fog from the Atlantic Ocean are the lifeblood of the desert’s flora and fauna. the fog-basking beetle to produce dry facades. The head-stander beetle's adaptation to its extremely arid environment has inspired new technology. Namib desert beetles live in an area with little ground water, so how is it that they have no trouble finding H2O? The Namibian Fog Basking Beetle lives in the Namibian Desert, where water is scarce. The Namibian fog-basking beetle that climbs to the top of a sand-dune at night, radiates body-heat to the night sky to cool its matt-black surface below the ambient temperature and then drinks the water that condenses overnight, courtesy of water-attracting bumps that create spherical droplets which run easily to its mouth. Their name is derived from the children's game where players knock on front doors and then run away. [2], The Toktokkie beetles have specific behaviors that allow them to survive in arid environments like the Namib Desert. Namib Desert: INS 030STA006 01. The beetle performs a handstand by lower lowering its head and raising its posterior. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Onymacris_unguicularis&oldid=980740629, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 28 September 2020, at 05:13. The beetle is able to trap water or fog by sticking the back part of its body facing the foggy wind. Two beetle species from the genus Onymacris have been observed to fog-bask on the ridges of the sand dunes. [2] Toktokkie beetles receive their name from a unique clicking noise they make. We return to Walvis Bay at around 17h00. [4], The size of these beetles, being larger than other beetles, helps them keep cool. Seeing as water is necessary for the survival of any form of life, this poses a challenge to organisms. Toktokkies are about 65mm in length and are black or dark brown in color. The head-stander beetle (Onymacris unguicularis) is a species of fog basking beetle that is native to the Namib Desert of southern Africa. The long, yellow larvae that hatch and mature in the soil. [1], Toktokkie beetles use the clicking noise as a mating ritual. nature has a way of reminding us just how powerful she is and how fragile we are. [4] Although they once had wings, tenebrionid beetles are flightless. This is when my affair with nature began. [2] The “fog-trapping” beetles then lick off the droplets of water. My childhood was spent in Africa, and when you leave, you actually developed a feeling in your stomach, a longing for the landscape. Namib Dune Beetle collecting condensed fog water on back: INS 030BAA015 01. Most species inhabit slipfaces and valleys between dunes, searching for the sheltered side of the dunes because large quantities of windblown detritus accumulate in these spaces. Fog-basking beetles can capture water from the night air. She puts it in a shallow hole in the earth's surface. They also emulated how the Namibian fog-basking beetles harvest fresh water from the driest deserts on Earth. Experimental set-up and identification of fog-basking behaviour Studies of fog-basking behaviour and fog water collecting efficiency were conducted under laboratory conditions at Lund University, Sweden. [4], male also have a red to dar brown velvet patch under Neath his abdomen that helps him to grasp the female. 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