The Namibian Fog Basking Beetle

This beetle is named Onymacris unguicularis, or the ‘tok-tokkie’ beetle. Why does he look as if he’s trying to stand on his head?

He’s developed a rather nifty way of getting a drink. As a sea fog rolls in of a morning the beetle presents himself to it. This is where things get clever, his carapace is made up of a series of peaks and troughs. The peaks are very attractive to water and the fog settles on them, the troughs however are waxy and hydrophobic and the water rolls off the trough and begins to form droplets. The water naturally runs down the inverted beetles body and into his mouth, smashing!

The beetle derived its English name from his drinking habits.

Read more at Ever So Strange.