A Look at Iceworms

Ice worms are just a couple of centimeters long and look like loose black threads scattered across glacial ice when they emerge in summer afternoons and evenings. They were given the scientific name m solifugus in 18 98 to describe how they hide from the sun during the brightest parts of the day. Ice worms have really high concentrations of melonin in all their tissues to protect from the sun's u v rays, but no eyes or other photo receptors that we know of. And this works for them because glacial ice usually stays a consistent zero degrees celsius year round,. thanks to the reflective surface in the summer and the chemistry of water and insulating snow in winter.

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