Transcript

Picture yourself on the shore of a lake, catching the sun. Rays of sunshine warm up your body, keeping you ready for action.

[Lake Mono soundscape fades in]

The familiar smell of the saline water tickles your antennae, inviting you for a dive. You are an alkali fly, and you feel ready for an underwater expedition.

Hi and welcome to the Insect Insights, chill insect stories to relax and wonder. I am Max, your host, and I hope you are ready to dive into insect knowledge for another insight!

Today, our alkali flies are of special societal relevance. The Kootzaduka’a Tribe relied on the alkali fly pupae as a main source of food, before their lifestyle was deeply degraded by white settler invasions. In short, Kootzagwae, or Mono Lake, where this insight takes place, is the unceded traditional land of the Kootzaduka’a people and is a treasure trove of both biodiversity and human history to be protected. Along with the usual entomological sources, you will find a link to the tribal website where they describe their history and current engagement to gain federal recognition and a land base.

The hunger gives you good motivation to go for a dive. In addition to the algae you feed on, you will find something nice under the water surface : no predator. Not much manages to survive down there, outside of some brine shrimps. It is much too salty for the rest! You are part of the landscape thanks to a nice trick of yours: you never get wet.

Yes, little fly. Even as you climb down the tufa, the tall columns formed by the precipitation of all this salt in the water, you manage the stay dry, under the water. With your cute little air bubble protecting your body, you go down until you reach the feeding grounds you seek, the algae mats. And the good thing with wearing an air bubble like a mobile submarine is that once you’re done, you can simply let go of the ground, so that you can be propelled up, until you jump out of the water and into the air, free to fly away.

But where’s the trick? Why isn’t every fly going down there like you, to feed on your algae? [chuckle] Well, let them try. This water isn’t any water, it is so rich in Sodium Carbonate that it’s extra wet. This soda lake would see most flies drenched in its brine, and there’s really no going back from this.

Only with your special coating, are you allowed in and out without a smudge. The hydrocarbons on your cuticle are a special blend, granting you the ability to keep your air bubble around you.

In time, you will go down the water not to feed, but to lay your eggs. In the middle of the algae, your larvae will develop and thrive in this extreme environment. They won’t even need the air bubble, raw-dogging the osmotic pressure through sheer physiological craftiness.

From egg to adult, you are a true pioneer, little Alkali fly. And thriving in this environment like you do creates opportunity for others. If the water is indeed free of predators, many are the ones outside of it relying on you as a food source. Other insects, birds, and even giant hairless apes happily feast on your success.

Sources

Bradley, T. J., & Herbst, D. B. (1994). Growth and Survival of Larvae of Ephydra hians Say (Diptera: Ephydridae) on Unialgal Diets. Environmental Entomology, 23(2), 276–281. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/23.2.276

Cash‐Clark, C. E., & Bradley, T. J. (1994). External morphology of the larvae of Ephydra (Hydropyrus) hians (Diptera: Ephydridae). Journal of Morphology, 219(3), 309–318. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.1052190310

Mono Lake Kootzaduka’a Tribe. (n.d.). Mono Lake Kootzaduka’a Tribe. Retrieved December 25, 2024, from https://monolaketribe.us/

van Breugel, F., & Dickinson, M. H. (2017). Superhydrophobic diving flies (Ephydra hians) and the hypersaline waters of Mono Lake. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(51), 13483–13488. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1714874114

Welcome To Mono Lake. (n.d.). Mono Lake. Retrieved December 24, 2024, from https://www.monolake.org/