92 ANIMAL LIFE IN DESERTS 



where both dew and water would be to all appear- 

 ances unobtainable." Probably, therefore, this Jer- 

 boa is to be grouped with the animals which do 

 drink, but need not do so. The Gerbil Meriones 

 swinhoeii, from the flat stony uplands of the Afghan 

 Border, refuses water in captivity (C. M. Ingoldby). 



According to Camp, most American desert reptiles 

 require no water, and this must be true of many 

 which occur in the Great Palaearctic Desert : my 

 correspondent, Capt. G. W. G. Kingston, suppUes a 

 good example in the Agama, which frequents the 

 ruins of Ur of the Chaldees in Southern Mesopotamia, 

 a dusty spot far from the River Euphrates or any 

 well, and without rain or vegetation for at least 

 seven months in the year. The lizard Moloch 

 horridus of West and South Australia, a repulsive 

 animal covered with tubercles and spines, has the 

 power of absorbing water through the skin after a 

 fall of rain. The Gecko (Eublepharis macularis), 

 which occurs in Persia and North-west India, 

 drinks freely from a saucer in captivity (C. M. 

 Ingoldby). 



As our knowledge of the biology of the smaller 

 forms of desert Ufe increases we shall no doubt find 

 remarkable instances of abiUty to exist without 

 moisture. The case of a Stratiomyid fly {Hermetia 

 chrysophila), the larvae of which are able to endure 

 at least fifteen months without food or water, and 

 which eat decayed cactus joints whenever moisture 

 is present, is probably typical of a large number of 

 other insects. 



