Getting wet can be a problem for many animals. A wet insect could quickly become too heavy to fly, and a wet bird can struggle to stay warm. But these Keep reading
Tag: insects
The Cricket’s Chirp
Growing up, my summer nights often featured a chorus of crickets and bull frogs. Even now, the sound of those chirps reminds me of home. So how do crickets make Keep reading
Holding Fast in the Flow
Many tiny creatures in the natural world face living in fast flows. The larvae of the net-winged midge, for example, forage their way through fast-flowing Alpine springs with speeds of Keep reading
“-N- Uprising”
Although Thomas Blanchard’s latest short film, “-N- Uprising”, is less overtly fluid dynamical, fluids underlie almost every aspect of it. The blossoming of flowers is often driven by osmosis and water pressure. Keep reading
The Sharpshooter Insect
The sharpshooter is a small, sap-sucking insect capable of consuming more than 300 times its body weight in fluid each day. To sustain that level of intake, the insect also Keep reading
Review: “How to Walk on Water and Climb Up Walls”
“An eight-year-old girl kicked her feet back and forth on the seat of a Long Island Railroad train. I beckoned her to cover over and pointed to the top of Keep reading
Flying Beetles, Stinging Nettles, and Jellyfish
In the latest JFM/FYFD video, we tackle some of the less pleasant aspects of summer weather: stopping invasive insects, understanding how plants dispense poison, and looking at the physics behind Keep reading
Staying Dry Underwater
Many insects are known to quest underwater, but few are as adept at it as the alkali fly. This species has taken common attributes among flies – being covered in Keep reading
Jumping Off Water
Many insects and arachnids can walk on water by virtue of their hydrophobicity and small size. With their light weight and skinny legs, these invertebrates curve the air-water interface like Keep reading
Navigating the Interface
Walking on water may be the stuff of legend at human scales, but it’s a fact of everyday life for many smaller species. Waxy, hydrophobic coatings typically make such insects’ Keep reading