Geometry for low-inertia aerosol capture: Lessons from fog-basking beetles

Abstract

Water in the form of windborne fog droplets supports life in many coastal arid regions, where natural selection has driven non-trivial physical adaptation toward its separation and collection. For two species of Namib desert beetle whose body geometry makes for a poor filter, subtle modifications in shape and texture have been previously associated with improved performance by facilitating water drainage from its collecting surface. However, little is known about the relevance of these modifications to the flow physics that underlies droplets’ impaction in the first place. We find, through coupled experiments and simulations, that such alterations can produce large relative gains in water collection by encouraging droplets to ‘slip’ toward targets at the millimetric scale, and by disrupting boundary and lubrication layers effects at the microscopic scale. Our results offer a lesson in biological fog collection, and design principles for controlling particle separation beyond the specific case of fog basking beetles.