What surprised Woods was how long they could do it, and still recover. He and his colleagues found that the submerged pupae didn't draw upon dissolved oxygen, and relied on anaerobic metabolism to keep going when they were underwater, for as long as five days. But pupae were 'the champs' at recovery, according to Woods. The caterpillars were able to recover after 4 hours underwater - not too shabby.

sexta's strategy for surviving underwater, the researchers immersed caterpillars and the more developed pupae.

'So usually insects can use anaerobic metabolism for finite periods of time,' he said. This type of metabolism produces toxic byproducts, which, at high levels, can poison the insect. The other method involves sealing up the body and getting by without oxygen, a process known as anaerobic metabolism. Mayflies and damselflies, for example, have a type of gill that connects to the trachea and conveys dissolved oxygen in water into the insect's body, allowing them to breathe even when fully immersed. One technique involves the insect extracting oxygen from the surrounding water that requires specialized body parts.

Insects experiencing long dunks underwater use one of two mechanisms to survive and recover, Woods said. 'We often saw Manduca habitat that got flooded out for days at a time, and we started to wonder whether and how pupae could survive that water.' Breathing underwater - or not 'I’ve always been really impressed with the torrential rains and flooding that can occur during the summer monsoon rains,' Woods told Live Science.

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