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Stenocara gracilipes is a species of beetle that is native to the Namib Desert in southern Africa. This is one of the most arid areas of the world, receiving only 1.4 centimetres (0.55 in) of rain per year. The beetle is able to survive by collecting water on its bumpy back surface from early morning fogs.
Toktokkies live throughout Namibia. Nearly 20 species have adapted to live in arid climates, like the Namib Desert. Most species inhabit slipfaces and valleys between dunes, searching for the sheltered side of the dunes because large quantities of windblown detritus accumulate in these spaces. Their habitat choice is influenced by food supply.
Due to the large variety of darkling beetle species in the Namib Desert, different beetles from the region have been confused with each other. Such is the case with Onymacris unguicularis and Stenocara gracilipes, which in non-scientific literature have both been called the “fog-basking beetle.”
Physosterna cribripes, the desert toktokkie or woestyntoktokkie, is a flightless species of desert-dwelling darkling beetle or Tenebrionid found along the West coast of Namibia and Angola. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] This species has a body length of some 18.4 mm (0.72 in) and a mass of 402 mg (6.20 gr).
Gemsbok Plains zebra Kirk's dik-dik Springbok antelope Wildebeest African buffalo Ground pangolin Namib Desert beetle High dunes in the Namib Desert. The wildlife of Namibia is composed of its flora and fauna. Namibia's endangered species include the wild dog, black rhino, oribi and puku.
Adults of most species, except grain pests, have slow metabolisms, and live long lives compared to other insects, ranging from approximately six months to two years. Some species live in intensely dry deserts such as the Namib, and have evolved adaptions by which they collect droplets of fog that deposit on their elytra. As the droplets ...
The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 described species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described insects and 25% of all known animal species; [2] new species are discovered frequently, with estimates suggesting that there are between 0.9 and 2.1 million total species.
The Stenocara beetle, which lives in the Namib desert, climbs sand dunes when the humid wind is blowing from the ocean to access the ambient water. [8] An example of plants adapting to the fog desert's climate is the genus Welwitschia which also grows in the Namib desert and grows only two leaves through its life. The leaves have large pores to ...