A new species of mayfly for science turned out to be the only freshwater insect that has been identified so far, causing bioerosion of silicate rocks. A representative of an ancient order of winged insects was discovered by scientists of the Academician N.P. Laverov (FITSKIA Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences) and the Northern (Arctic) Federal University (NArFU, Arkhangelsk) in the course of work on the assessment of freshwater bioresources of Myanmar at the request of the government authorities of this country. The results of the study are at the disposal of Izvestia.
Insects live in the Bago River basin (central Myanmar) in places where the river breaks through rocky ridges composed of siltstones (a special kind of rock). In a gorge with a rapid current and rapids, scientists discovered rocks, the surface of which was completely pitted with holes. Having separated a piece of siltstone slab, they found mayfly larvae inside the passages.
“This is the first freshwater insect in the world capable of destroying rocks, and the first animal in the world that causes erosion of hard rocks, but does not have marine relatives, but was originally formed in a freshwater environment,” said the head of the scientific group, director of the FITSKIA Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, member Correspondent of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ivan Bolotov.
It is emphasized that before science associated the processes of bioerosion exclusively with the seas and oceans. It was believed that macrobioerosion in fresh water is absent as such. However, in 2018, scientists discovered the first freshwater organism to erode silicate rocks in the Kaladan River in northwestern Myanmar. Biologists have suggested that the borer clam Lignopholas fluminalis was originally a marine species, but as the tectonic uplift and replacement of sea water with fresh water adapted to the new habitat.
In 2019, a group of American scientists described unique mollusks (shipworms) destroying rocks in a small river in the Philippines.
According to Bolotov, the scientists hypothesized that all three species of freshwater borers — the Caladan borer clam, the Philippine shipworm, and the Bago rock-eater mayfly — originated in groups of invertebrates adapted to wood drilling.
This means that the evolutionary transition from wood drilling to rock drilling is simpler than the transition from free living to rock drilling. This is facilitated by certain morphological features.
“In particular, mayflies have massive jaws (mandibles) that work like a perforator. Shipworms are endowed with a shell in the form of a drill, and drill molluscs are endowed with a cone-shaped shell, by rotating which they make moves in the rocks. We assume that due to the lack of flooded wood in their habitats, wood drillers have switched to finding shelters and making moves in a new substrate – in the rocks, ”Bolotov concluded.
In August 2021, Canadian scientists discovered a previously unknown species of carnivorous plant from the genus False Asphodium that has the ability to lure and kill its victims with its sticky sap. It turned out that false asphodel (Triantha occidentalis) growing in North American swamps can hunt insects using a sticky stem. The plant was first described in 1879, but scientists were unaware of its predatory habits.
According to the observations of researchers, the traps of the plant are very close to the inflorescences, which, however, does not interfere with the pollination process. The glandular hairs of the plant capture only small insects, since, experts suggest, this is due to the fact that sticky drops can immobilize only such invertebrates.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
