Question: hi Octavia, my brother has a crested gecko! what are the two species of insects in the Antarctic?

Octavia Brayley answered on 10 Nov 2023: last edited 10 Nov 2023 11:56 am

Hi there! Oh, that’s awesome! What’s the gecko’s name? They’re such cool animals 🙂 The two species of insect have quite difficult names…we only have the Latin names and haven’t bothered coming up with common names! So they’re Belgica antarctica and Eretmoptera murphyi. They’re both flightless little midges that live in the soil. E.murphyi is the species I’m particularly interested in because it was accidentally moved from one island (South Georgia) to another (Signy) in the 1960s and I’m investigating how it’s impacting this new environment. We hypothesise that as it’s a decomposer, it breaks down dead organic matter in the soil, and therefore increases the nutrients on Signy Island. This means that new plant species might emerge, which will affect the herbivores on the island. Thanks for the question!