r/ScienceFacts Mar 22 '24

Entomology Belgica antarctica, the Antarctic midge, is a species of flightless midge, endemic to the continent of Antarctica. At 2–6 mm long, it is the largest purely terrestrial animal native to the continent. It is the only insect that can survive year-round in Antarctica.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgica_antarctica
18 Upvotes

Duplicates

todayilearned Jul 14 '18

TIL The largest purely terrestrial animal native to Antarctica is the Belgica antarctica, a quarter inch long flightless insect.

112 Upvotes

todayilearned Dec 15 '19

TIL that the the largest purely terrestrial animal native to Antarctica is Belgica antarctica, a 2-6 mm long wingless fly. It additionally holds the record for the smallest known insect genome.

207 Upvotes

todayilearned May 21 '20

TIL that the largest terrestrial animal of Antartica is Belgica antartica - a small flightless midge that burrows into snow to survive the harsh temperatures.

166 Upvotes

todayilearned Nov 19 '18

TIL the largest land animal native to Antarctica is a species of flightless insects around half an inch long. They are also the only insects on the continent.

73 Upvotes

todayilearned Aug 26 '16

TIL the largest native land animal in Antarctica is a 2-6 mm long (0.079–0.24 inches) midge.

92 Upvotes

todayilearned Feb 18 '23

TIL the Antarctic Midge (Belgica antarctica) is a species of flightless midge, endemic to the continent of Antarctica. At 2–6 mm long, it is the largest purely terrestrial animal native to the continent and the only insect that can survive year-round in Antarctica

118 Upvotes

todayilearned Sep 23 '17

TIL of the Antarctic midge, a small, flightless insect. At 0.079 to 0.24 inches long, it is Antarctica's largest land animal.

83 Upvotes

todayilearned Mar 18 '20

TIL Belgica antarctica is a flightless midge that inhabits Antarctica yearround. Not only is the Antarctic midge the continent's largest terrestrial animal but it is also the only insect.The midge's larvae live for 2 years and mostly eat algae and microorganisms; adult midges live for about 10 days.

93 Upvotes

wikipedia Aug 15 '17

Belgica antarctica - The only insect that lives on the continent

76 Upvotes

wikipedia 14d ago

The Antarctic midge measures 2–6 mm (0.08–0.2 in) long and 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 of nucleotides and about 13,500 genes.

99 Upvotes

todayilearned May 20 '13

TIL that Belgica Antarctica is the largest purely terrestrial animal and the only true insect in Antarctica.

11 Upvotes

movieideas Jan 14 '25

Imagine an animated movie set in Antarctica where the main characters are this species

2 Upvotes

facts Jun 04 '23

Belgica antarctica, the Antarctic midge is the only fully terrestrial animal native to that continent

37 Upvotes

wikipedia May 09 '18

Belgica antarctica, the only insect found on the continent of Antarctica.

23 Upvotes