Why did only one genus of insects, Halobates, take to the high seas?

Cheng, Lanna; Mishra, Himanshu

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Article

Date

2022-04-13

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http://hdl.handle.net/10754/676270

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Abstract

Oceans cover more than 70% of the Earth’s surface and house a dizzying array of organisms. Mammals, birds, and all manner of fish can be commonly sighted at sea, but insects, the world’s most common animals, seem to be completely absent. Appearances can deceive, however, as 5 species of the ocean skater Halobates live exclusively at the ocean surface. Discovered 200 years ago, these peppercorn-sized insects remain rather mysterious. How do they cope with life at the ocean surface, and why are they the only genus of insects to have taken to the high seas?

Citation

Cheng, L., & Mishra, H. (2022). Why did only one genus of insects, Halobates, take to the high seas? PLOS Biology, 20(4), e3001570. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001570

Sponsors

LC would like to thank all past and present coauthors, who are too many to list, for their contributions in advancing our knowledge on Halobates, as well as organizations and individuals for sending her collections. She wishes to dedicate this article to the memory of her late husband Prof. Ralph A. Lewin; without his moral and financial support for almost 4 decades, Halobates might still remain just an insect oddity
HM's research is funded by BAS/1/1070-01-01 from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Publisher

Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Journal

PLOS Biology

DOI

10.1371/journal.pbio.3001570

PubMed ID

35417455

Additional Links

https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001570

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Articles; Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE) Division; Environmental Science and Engineering Program; Water Desalination and Reuse Research Center (WDRC)

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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Archived with thanks to PLOS Biology under a Creative Commons license, details at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/