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Diving Beetles Research Paper

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Insects that live in water also exchange gases with the environment through the trachea. Air can be carried with the insect or it can diffuse into the tracheal system from the water. An example of this are diving beetles. Diving beetles carry a bubble of air under the elytra (wing covers) or trap the bubble of air against their body by specialised hairs. The bubbles one or more spiracle so that the insect can breathe air from the bubble when submerged in water. The air bubble only provides the diving beetle with a short- term supply of oxygen, therefore the bubble is also able to collect some of the oxygen molecules dissolved in the surrounding water. In effect, the bubble acts as a physical gill as it replenishes its supply of oxygen through

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