HOW DO DESERT BEETLES SURVIVE WITHOUT WATER?
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Many desert beetles, such as the Namib beetle, survive by collecting water out of the foggy air. According to MIT News, the Namib beetle uses a finely tuned water processing system that is the envy of water engineers. While poor people in the developing world spend hours walking to collect water, the fog harvesting abilities of the Namib beetle enable it to obtain the water right in the desert.
Every morning, the beetle takes advantage of a fog that drifts across the desert and exposes its body to the wind, just at the right angle. The beetle's wing covers incorporate a hydrophilic substance that attracts moisture. As moisture gathers on the side covers, it forms droplets that run down water-repellant troughs—aided by gravity—into the beetle's mouth. Another type of Namib beetle makes a small trench in the sand and drinks small drops of water flowing down the channel after it condenses out the fog onto the sand.
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