research
The Larvae Carry Their Own Ballast Tanks
Lake Malawi fly larvae use pH-responsive resilin air sacs to survive and control daily dives beyond 200 meters.
Summary
Lake Malawi fly larvae use pH-responsive resilin air sacs to survive and control daily dives beyond 200 meters.
University of British Columbia researchers used bottom-mounted sonar, micro-CT and pressure chambers to study Chaoborus edulis larvae that descend into Lake Malawi's low-oxygen depths by day and rise to feed at night. Two pairs of air sacs change volume as pH alters elastic resilin in their walls, and the sacs withstood pressure equivalent to more than 400 meters. The mechanism challenges pressure alone as an explanation for insects' absence from the open ocean, without resolving salinity, ecology and other barriers.
Why it matters
Lake Malawi fly larvae use pH-responsive resilin air sacs to survive and control daily dives beyond 200 meters.
Limits and context
No additional limitation was separately recorded.
Key claims
Lake Malawi fly larvae use pH-responsive resilin air sacs to survive and control daily dives beyond 200 meters.
Evidence: source-2026-07-28-014
Sources
- University of British Columbia via ScienceDaily: Deep-diving lake-fly larvaeUniversity of British Columbia via ScienceDaily · secondary reporting
Corrections
No corrections have been recorded for this story.