• DOI:10.1038/35102108
Corpus ID: 34785113

Water capture by a desert beetle

@article{Parker2001WaterCB,
  title={Water capture by a desert beetle},
  author={A. Parker and Chris Lawrence},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2001},
  volume={414},
  pages={33-34}
}

A. Parker, Chris Lawrence

Published 2001

Environmental Science, Medicine

Nature

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ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Some beetles in the Namib Desert collect drinking water from fog-laden wind on their backs. We show here that these large droplets form by virtue of the insect's bumpy surface, which consists of alternating hydrophobic, wax-coated and hydrophilic, non-waxy regions. The design of this fog-collecting structure can be reproduced cheaply on a commercial scale and may find application in water-trapping tent and building coverings, for example, or in water condensers and engines.