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Toktokkies
Toktokkies are a variety of species of beetles that belong to the large Tenebrionidae family, also known as Darkling beetle. Toktokkies do not belong to a particular tribe or genus of Tenebrionids, but rather a selection of flightless species with distinct tapping noises. The Tenebrionidae family to which these beetles belong is quite large, with almost 3,500 species inhabiting Southern Africa. Nearly 200 species of Toktokkies inhabit the country of Namibia and 20 have adapted to the extreme temperatures of the Namib Desert.〔 The most common Toktokkies in the Namib Desert are the Fog Basking beetle (''Onymacris unguicularis'') and the button beetle or trench-digging beetle (''Lepidochora discoidalis'').
==Specimens==
The "fog-basking" beetle(''O. unguicularis'') gets its water source from the fog through special biological adaptations. When the fog rolls in at night or early in the morning, these beetles climb to the peak of the dunes, where the water condensation is most dense. The beetle performs a handstand by lower lowering its head and raising its posterior.〔 The fog condenses on its back and drips into the mouthparts. Through this process the “fog-basking” beetles can drink 40% of their body-mass.〔
The "fog-trapping" beetle (''L. discoidalis'') also gets its water from the fog, but it acquires it in a different manner. After foraging for the first half of the night, the “fog-trapping” beetle burrows into the sand. It returns to the surface late at night or early in the morning when the fog rolls across the Namib Desert. It digs a trench into the side of the dune and droplets of water build up on ridges of the trench.〔 The “fog-trapping” beetles then lick off the droplets of water.
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
■ウィキペディアで「Toktokkies」の詳細全文を読む
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