Why Don't Insects Live in the Ocean? Scientists Just Ruled Out One Possible Explanation Thanks to Deep-Diving Fly Larvae
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-dont-insects-live-in-the-ocean-scientists-just-ruled-out-one-possible-explanation-thanks-to-deep-diving-fly-larvae-180989348/
22 points · 15 comments · view on lemmy.world
15 Comments
Blackfeathr@lemmy.world · 22 pts · 13d
Shrimps is bugs
RaphaelSchmitz@feddit.org · 7 pts · 13d
Yeah my reaction was like, what, there are crustaceans filling the exact niche, with exoskeleton and everything.
It's like asking why whales don't live on land - yeah that's where they came from and they're something different now.
adespoton@lemmy.ca · 11 pts · 13d
The answer seems pretty obvious to me — holds true for arachnids and bugs too — they rely on pneumatics, which would be difficult if you always lived under water.
Many insects can survive just fine under water, but eventually they’ll need air.
Kirp123@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 13d
Diving bell spiders live underwater. They use their web to trap a bubble of air that they use for breathing. They have no issues operating underwater.
https://youtu.be/1rlt9yAhqTw
tal@lemmy.today · 8 pts · 13d
I was completely unaware that there were no marine insects until reading this.
betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 13d
We normally call them crustaceans instead.
trxxruraxvr@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 13d
They could both be called bugs, but it's really a separate family from insects.
daannii@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 13d
Whale lice?
But I guess not technically a lice
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_louse
Learned about these from venture bros
betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 13d
Call the larva a swim, it'll be a fly in its adult stage.
Malyca@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 13d
Shrimps is bugs
icelimit@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 10d
Stuff in the sea are buggier than land bugs by a long mile.
A case could even be made for fish with their "segmented carapace" that are scales.
k0e3@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 13d
Too many people thinking "shrimps/crustaceans are bugs," as if that's some kind of gotcha. You could call them bugs, but insects and bugs aren't the same things.
ms_lane@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 12d
Hexapods are one subphyllum removed from Crustacea...
k0e3@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 12d
So they're the exact same thing?
CyroSignal@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 12d
That's interesting...