This morning I saw a small fly sitting on a leaf of our Physocarpus opulifolius shrub. What immediately struck me was that it looked as if the animal was blowing a bubble that after a while was swallowed again. After some searching I found a description of the phenomenon. Although it does not seem to be known exactly why some insects do this, the assumption is that it may be related to the digestive system and/or thermoregulation. It is thought to be a mechanism to evaporate excess water or get rid of toxins. The latest studies show that it is all about cooling: when the liquid comes out, the temperature drops. The insect then reabsorbs the drop, cooling the body.
More information: Guilherme Gomes et al, Droplet bubbling evaporatively cools a blowfly. Scientific Reports (2018)
| Family | Species | Photo |
|---|---|---|
| Fanniidae | Fannia lustrator (Harris, 1780) | DSCF5994 |
Citation
@online{van rijswijk2024,
author = {van Rijswijk, Carlo},
title = {Bubble Blowing {Fannia}},
date = {2024-05-18},
url = {https://carlovanrijswijk.com/quarto/Posts/2024-05-18-fannia},
langid = {en}
}