A wingless mosquito from Antarctica is in danger of extinction

Antarctica’s largest land animal, the wingless ringed mosquito, has been determined by an international team of entomologists, with the participation of experts from the University of Kentucky, to be in danger of extinction due to climate change. They talked about it in a magazine article. Functional Ecology.

The Belgica antarctica mosquito lives in Antarctica’s glaciers all year round. Extremely small, less than a centimeter long, this insect remains the largest land creature on the continent.

The ringing mosquito lives for about a year. For a long time, the insect developed its own life cycle: as a larva, the future mosquito survives its winter hibernating under a layer of ice, and when spring comes it wakes up and feeds on stored energy reserves. With the onset of a new cold season, the mosquito dies because it cannot find food.

However, over the last decade, the temperature on the continent has been rising gradually: about half a degree every ten years. Therefore, the Antarctic winter comes later than usual, and the pupa hibernates more exhausted, as it does not have time to accumulate enough energy.

To test how such changes affect mosquitoes, the scientists took several individuals who had spent the winter under controlled laboratory conditions and, after thawing, evaluated their condition, including the presence of damage and the level of nutrient stores.

At the usual -5°C temperature, up to half of the larvae population survived, while at the -1°C temperature now the same in winter Antarctica, only a third of the insects turned out to be surviving. In addition, the energy reserves left by the mosquitoes played a large role – insects that hibernate later than others due to the hot climate were much weaker.

Scientists so far hope that climate change will be more gradual, allowing bell mosquitoes to adapt to changing conditions.