image: This is an Alkali fly. view more
Credit: PNAS
A study explores the small-scale adaptations, including a dense hair layer and cuticular hydrocarbons that allow alkali flies (Ephydra hians) to feed and lay eggs in California's Mono Lake, where the water is both highly alkaline and three times as salty as the Pacific Ocean.
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Article # 17-14874: "Superhydrophobic diving flies (Ephydra hians) and the hypersaline waters of Mono Lake," by Floris van Breugel and Michael H. Dickinson.
MEDIA CONTACT: Floris van Breugel, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA; e-mail: <florisvb@gmail.com>
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences