Most tolerant insect to desiccation

Living in small pools on unshaded rocks in northern Nigeria and Uganda, the larvae of Polypedilum vanderplanki, a chironomid midge, withstand an environment that is alternately dry and flooded, and are the only insects capable of enduring cryptobiosis. This is defined as the state of an organism when it shows no visible signs of life and when its metabolic activity becomes hardly measurable, or comes to a standstill. Laboratory experiments have revealed that this midge’s larvae can survive drying to less than 3 per cent moisture.