# How do small insects survive a downpour?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-small-insects-survive-a-downpour/374825>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 1, 2006, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-small-insects-survive-a-downpour/374825 "2006-10-01T12:27:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![relevancethreshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df788c/32.png) [@relevancethreshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/relevancethreshold)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-small-insects-survive-a-downpour/374825/1 "2006-10-01T12:27:21Z")

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As I write the rain is lashing down. I think of all those insects that can be trapped in a drop or two of water and drown in a pool of just a few drops. They can’t evade the rain by flying between the drops. Why are there any left after a hard shower?

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**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-small-insects-survive-a-downpour/374825/2 "2006-10-01T12:44:15Z")

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On the underside of things, mainly. The underside of leaves, under bark, under cracks in walls or rock…and under stones.

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**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-small-insects-survive-a-downpour/374825/3 "2006-10-01T13:00:18Z")

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The itsy-bitsy spider crawled up the water spout…

I know, I know, you didn’t ask how arachnids survive downpour.

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**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-small-insects-survive-a-downpour/374825/4 "2006-10-01T13:07:31Z")

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I’m guessing that most insect can sense the impending rain and seek refuge before it begins. If you take notice, they usually seem pretty scarce just before it starts.

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**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-small-insects-survive-a-downpour/374825/5 "2006-10-01T15:55:53Z")

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Surface tension also plays a part.

> **[Surface tension](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_tension)**
>
> Surface tension is the tendency of liquid surfaces at rest to shrink into the minimum surface area possible. Surface tension is what allows objects with a higher density than water such as razor blades and insects (e.g. water striders) to float on a water surface without becoming even partly submerged.
> At liquid–air interfaces, surface tension results from the greater attraction of liquid molecules to each other (due to cohesion) than to the molecules in the air (due to adhesion).
> There are two...