Belgica antarctica

This article is about the insect. For the Belgica Antarctic Expedition, see Belgian Antarctic Expedition.

Belgica antarctica
Two Belgica antarctica adults
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Chironomidae
Genus: Belgica
Species:
B. antarctica
Binomial name
Belgica antarctica
Jacobs, 1900[1]
Distribution in Antarctica (red)

Belgica antarctica, the Antarctic midge, is a species of flightless midge, endemic to the continent of Antarctica. At 2–6 mm (0.08–0.2 in) long, 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 of nucleotides and about 13500 genes. It is the only insect that can survive year-round in Antarctica.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Jacobs, 1900 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).