Belgica antarctica mating🪲

Photo: Tasteofcrayons · Public domain

SpeciesDipteraChironomidae
Arthropods

🪲Belgica antarctica

Belgica antarctica Jacobs, 1900

Belgica antarctica, the Antarctic midge, is a species of flightless midge, endemic to the continent of Antarctica. At a length of 2–6 mm (0.08–0.2 in), it is the largest purely terrestrial animal native to the continent. It also has the smallest known insect genome as of 2014, with only 99 million base pairs (Mbp) of nucleotides and about 13,500 genes. It is the only insect that can survive year-round in Antarctica.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Conservation status
Not evaluated

The IUCN Red List has not assessed Belgica antarctica yet.

Key measurements
Body mass
not recorded
Body length
not recorded
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
not recorded
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Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Belgica antarctica

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Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumArthropoda
  3. ›classInsecta
  4. ›orderDiptera
  5. ›familyChironomidae
  6. ›genusBelgica
  7. ›speciesBelgica antarctica
Full lineage
  1. classInsects · Insecta
  2. orderFlies · Diptera
  3. subfamilyOrthocladiinae
  4. genusBelgica
All 11 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. subphylumHexapoda
  4. classInsects · Insecta
  5. subclassPterygota
  6. orderFlies · Diptera
  7. infraorderCulicomorpha
  8. superfamilyChironomoidea
  9. familyChironomidae
  10. subfamilyOrthocladiinae
  11. genusBelgica
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More about the Belgica antarctica

In other languages
ナンキョクユスリカ (ja), 南极蠓 (zh), بلجيكية القطب الجنوبي (ar), בלגיקה אנטארטיקה (he)
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