ArticlePLoS biology2022
Why did only one genus of insects, Halobates, take to the high seas?
Article in PLoS biology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- It is Separation, Not Contact: Electrification at Water-Hydrophobe Interfaces during Wetting-Dewetting Cycles.Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids · 2026Article
- Microbial diversity and functional potential of the Halobates melleus (Heteroptera: Gerridae) microbiome from the Red Sea coastline.Environmental microbiome · 2025Article
- Interfacial vortex recapture enhances thrust in tiny water skaters.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- 300 Million years of coral treaders (Insecta: Heteroptera: Hermatobatidae) back to the ocean in the phylogenetic context of Arthropoda.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Oceans cover more than 70% of the Earth's surface and house a dizzying array of organisms. Mammals, birds, and all manner of fish can be commonly sighted at sea, but insects, the world's most common animals, seem to be completely absent. Appearances can deceive, however, as 5 species of the ocean skater Halobates live exclusively at the ocean surface. Discovered 200 years ago, these peppercorn-sized insects remain rather mysterious. How do they cope with life at the ocean surface, and why are they the only genus of insects to have taken to the high seas?
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.