Post #2484257

2026-05-10 18:11 UTC

That said, it wasn't particularly warm today, & less so this evening as the cloud rolled in. It was humid still though. The Sepsis fulgens fly was going through a whole preening process at the same time as the droplet of water was hanging from its mouth, turning in circles, & cleaning its wings with its legs. Then it sucked in the water droplet & flew off 🤷‍♂️

Replies (2)

@markmccaughrean@mastodon.social 2026-05-10 19:12

For the discovery that bubble blowing helps with fly thermoregulation, see Gomes+18 who used thermal-IR imaging to observe blowflies doing it. Droplets cool by up to 8°C below ambient in just 15 secs under some conditions, & when re-ingested, it lowers the temperatures of the head, thorax, & abdomen by 1, 0.5, & 0.2°C, respectively. The fly repeatedly blow bubbles, to cool further, only losing a little at a time. Lots of other interesting details in the paper too 👍 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-23670-2

Open ##2484258
@slowenough@mastodon.social 2026-05-10 18:28

@markmccaughrean@mastodon.social I got fascinated withspiracles recently, and it strikes me that this behavior re temperature and water takes advantage of some of the same geometry & math that make spiracles work for air/oxygen.

Open ##2484259