adhere to water
31. Tissues create hydrostatic pressure: plants
"Osmotic Motors: Hydraulic motors and actuators work on the basis of a change in hydrostatic pressure…plants generate hydrostatic pressure by injecting solutes into a confined space that must be surrounded by a selective membrane that retai...
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32. Trenches gather water: flying saucer trench beetle
"A third method involves uptake of free water directly from fog-moistened sand. The most elaborate procedure is used by the genus Lepidochora (Seely and Hamilton, 1976) (Fig. 3 c). These flat, circular, short-legged beetles construct a shallow tre...
33. Habitat regulates water flows: peatlands
"Peatlands are of particular interest to water resource managers because they occur extensively in the headwater areas of many streams and rivers. Peatlands can have large impacts on the quantity and quality of the receiving waters (e.g. Brooks 19...
34. Heliamphora use shape to filter water of prey.
This carnivorous plant prevents its pitcher (used for trapping animals) from overflowing by including a narrow gap near the top of the rolled, zipped up leaf. This gap allows excess water to leak out, yet is small enough to keep prey inside the pi...
35. Adhering to multiple substrates: blackberry
"One of the most mobile of plants…is the blackberry. An individual, once established, immediately starts to seek new territory for itself. It puts out exploratory stems…They begin to advance directly and purposefully…Each stem...
36. Mouthpart curls and uncurls: butterfly
The butterfly proboscis is curled in its resting state and uncurls to feed by changing the water pressure in the tube-like structures. When the butterfly is ready to feed, it applies hydrostatic (water) pressure to straighten the tube into a straw...
37. Interaction helps retain water: forests
"The results clearly show that neither maize nor grasses can duplicate the services of the original tropical forest. With its two hundred plant species, the forest lets virtually none of its soil or water escape and sustains a lush productivity ye...
38. Silk threads adhere underwater: marine amphipod
"The discovery of a novel silk production system in a marine amphipod provides insights into the wider potential of natural silks. The tube-building corophioid amphipod Crassicorophium bonellii produces from its legs fibrous, adhesi...
39. Body shape reduces friction: dolphin
"The streamlined body of optimal shape has a length of 4.5 times its diameter. In this case the surface is smallest relative to the volume. This optimal numerical proportion has not remained a secret from nature: for dolphins (Tursiops gilli) the ...
40. Hydrophobic microscopic bumps made from waxes cause water droplets to bead off.
Similar to surface structures of feathers, hairs, and trichomes, microscopic bumps, or peaks and valleys, on the surface of an organism reduce particle adhesion to the substrate and water surface tension, thus encouraging the shedding of both dirt...
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