Can you imagine a fly that lives underwater? Yes, there is that one type of a fly that exists. Even the American writer Mark Twain had seen this “incredibly weird” critter that can come out of the water -- completely dry. Meet the Mono Lake fly.
The Mono Lake fly thrives in Central California’s Mono Lake, a shallow, inland sea near Yosemite National Park. The body of water’s lack of outlet causes high salt content to accumulate, which is three times saltier than seawater, aside from its large amounts of sodium carbonate and borax.
Biologist Michael Dickinson of California Institute of Technology, along with biologist Floris van Breugel of University of Washington, studied the fly as to how it adapts to the lake’s complicated water composition.
The Mono Lake fly thrives in Central California’s Mono Lake, a shallow, inland sea near Yosemite National Park. The body of water’s lack of outlet causes high salt content to accumulate, which is three times saltier than seawater, aside from its large amounts of sodium carbonate and borax.
Biologist Michael Dickinson of California Institute of Technology, along with biologist Floris van Breugel of University of Washington, studied the fly as to how it adapts to the lake’s complicated water composition.