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# *This Hairy Fly Can "Breathe" In Water*

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We're used to seeing flies all the time. Sometimes, they land on your plate or fly around the bin. However, how often do we see flies doing something amazing like breathing in the water?

Mono Lake, California, is home to a strange and hairy alkaline fly (Ephydra hians). Now, researchers have found that these "diver" flies are able to survive in very alkaline lake waters, breaking into the water to eat and lay eggs. The hair on their body helps create air bubbles around them, which function as external lungs.

The research was conducted by Floris van Breugel, a scholarship recipient of the National Geographic Society for Exploration and Research and a postdoctoral candidate at the University of Washington. The National Geographic Society funded van Breugel to study the flies that inhabit Lake Mono. According to him, the flies are the same type. It reminds him of Mark Twain's writings some 150 years ago in his Roughing It-they are really interesting to watch.