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Diving insects boost their buoyancy bubbles

Nature volume 441, page 171 (2006)Cite this article

Underwater backswimmers use their haemoglobin to help them stay stationary while waiting for prey.

Abstract

Backswimmers (Notonectidae) are common diving insects found around the world that exploit the mid-water zone for predation — they breathe by using an air bubble collected at the surface. Here we show that backswimmers achieve prolonged periods of neutral buoyancy by using oxygen stored in their haemoglobin to stabilize the volume of the bubble as they breathe from it. This enables them to maintain their position in the water column without continually swimming.

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Figure 1: Partial pressure of oxygen inside a bubble and the change in the bubble's volume while attached to the insect Anisops deanei during a dive.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Biology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5005, Australia

    Philip G. D. Matthews & Roger S. Seymour

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  1. Philip G. D. Matthews
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  2. Roger S. Seymour
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Correspondence to Philip G. D. Matthews.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Matthews, P., Seymour, R. Diving insects boost their buoyancy bubbles. Nature 441, 171 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/441171a

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