00:03It's a classic scene from the Disney Pixar movie, A Bug's Life, showing the ants' reaction when the weather changes.
00:12It's not hard to imagine just how intense mundane rain for humans might be for insects.
00:16But what really occurs when it starts to pour for these tiny creatures?
00:20This video was recently released by researchers looking to study that very thing,
00:24showing just what happens when a water droplet many times the mass of a small insect lands on top of
00:29one.
00:29The study looked specifically at water striders, or insects that use surface tension to move across it.
00:35Using slow motion cameras, they were able to capture the very moment the water droplet strikes and creates what they
00:40call a water crater.
00:41While that might seem like a death sentence for a creature of this size, their observations revealed just how they
00:46were able to survive.
00:48When striders are pushed into the water, we observe the formation of an air bubble around the body of the
00:56insect,
00:56which is attributed to the water repellent nature of its exoskeleton.
01:02This air bubble prevents drowning.
01:05However, their study wasn't just looking at water striders.
01:08It was also attempting to better understand the movements of microplastics around our planet's waters.
01:14With the study concluding that water striders and plastic particles act very similarly in heavy rainfall,
01:19submerging them for a time and increasing their likelihood of remaining in a water source.
01:24And, up to 15-50 years?
01:30Thanks, Hiroman.
