Mounds of West African termites are built to shed water via mushroom-like shape.
“In West Africa and other areas where there is heavy rain, the colonies build nests like mushrooms with flat roofs which shed the water.” (Attenborough 1979:100)
Image: W. Bulach / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY - Creative Commons Attribution alone
Protect From Excess Liquids
While water is essential to life, too much water or other liquids can overwhelm living systems. Excess liquids can, for example, decrease a living system’s access to oxygen, promote excessive bacterial or fungal growth, or strip away soil and nutrients. To prevent the accumulation of excess liquids, living systems must control the movement of liquids across their boundaries or surfaces. They do so using waterproofing materials or structures, slowing flow, and/or facilitating flow to move the liquid away. Plant leaves, for example, commonly have waxy surfaces comprised of water-repelling chemicals to keep water from engorging the leaves or facilitating bacterial and fungal growth.
Insects
Class Insecta (“an insect”): Flies, ants, beetles, cockroaches, fleas, dragonflies
Insects are the most abundant arthropods—they make up 90% of the animals in the phylum. They’re found everywhere on earth except the deep ocean, and scientists estimate there are millions of insects not yet described. Most live on land, but many live in freshwater or saltwater marshes for part of their life cycles. Insects have three distinct body sections: a head, which has specialized mouthparts, a thorax, which has jointed legs, and an abdomen. They have well-developed nervous and sensory systems, and are the only invertebrate that can fly, thanks to their lightweight exoskeletons and small size.
