Talk:Belgica antarctica

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As far as categories go, I'm not too sure that Belgica antarctica is a pollinator. There are only two flowering plants native to Antarctica, and they may well be wind-pollinated. Speciate 18:08, 11 January 2007 (UTC)speciate[reply]

I've removed the offending category. --Stemonitis 10:49, 17 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It says in the main Antarctica article that this is aroun 12 mm long, while 2-6 mm here. Perhaps this should be the same in both articles? Kjetil Kjernsmo (talk) 18:55, 3 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This section confused me due to lack of detail. Why can't it survive above 10°C? 2601:A:5A80:305:E51F:6695:E5F0:1E8D (talk) 21:37, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Well for one things an organism needs different sets of enzymes to survive at different temperatures. This is basically the entire reason for warm bloodedness, humans need to keep a constant temperature, if they go too far above or below it, we die because our enzymatic system is only adapted for a very narrow range. Cold blooded animals have a variety of different enzymatic systems to survive in whatever whether happens to exist in their area. It's less efficient though, they constantly have to switch between them and keep a bunch of enzymes around that are useless at a given temperature. With this specific bug, I would guess it just entirely stopped producing those enzymes necessary for life above freezing, because it almost never experiences that. So when its exposed to above freezing temperatures, it slowly shuts down because it's not able to process energy and carry on the processes of life. Really similar to how we slowly stop moving when our warm bloodedness gets overwhelmed and our body temperature is pushed out of its comfort zone, that very narrow band we can live a healthy life in. It's a bit odd to see this happening in a cold blooded insect at chilly temperatures, but that's just how different the environment they managed to eek out an existence is than that of basically any other animal on Earth, literally there was no evolutionary pressure on them to survive in 10 Celsius whether so really basic adaptations present in basically every other animal, just devolve. In evolution if something isn't necessary to live, eventually mutations happen that wreck this system, things that in another environment might be considered a deformity or congenital illness or something, but in their environment go unnoticed as they keep on living and reproducing just as well. Even if it isn't really more evolutionary advantageous, if they had like a perfectly good set of enzymes that would help them survive at 10c like 15 million years or so ago, well evolution doesn't know that, the ones with mutations that wrecked that enzyme system kept on living just as well, and eventually doing better as they more narrowly focused on just the bare set of enzymes necessary to life to live at -10-0 degrees celsius. Which is all they need. These systems tend to mutate into uselessness naturally, with little notice on the part of the creatures.2601:140:8980:106F:3C9C:BD8C:B674:95F7 (talk) 04:08, 29 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

how is this the largest animal on antarctica? how about seals and penguins etc.?

From the article - "it is the largest PURELY TERRESTRIAL animal on the continent" *sigh* 92.0.196.11 (talk) 02:36, 23 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm no expert, but the picture contained here looks like it's two of the species in question, perhaps copulating. This should be noted so as not to confuse others thinking it has 12 legs. Mondriansky (talk) 17:19, 14 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. Copulating. Eperotao (talk) 23:46, 20 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I think the comment about winglessness being an adaptation to wind is a very questionable assertion, citation or no. Other insects are wingless. Are they all subject to strong winds? One might just as reasonably argue that these guys were blown to Antarctica in a storm and haven't been able to leave because they have no wings. Eperotao (talk) 23:46, 20 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

TomS TDotO: Do we have any support for the common name of the insect being "Antarctic midge"? Literature calls it as a midge being Antarctic, but I am not sure "Antarctic midge" is a proper name.--cyclopia^speak! 09:32, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I read about the small genome of the "Antarctic midge" in this press release WSU researcher sees survival story in Antarctic fly's small genome]. The press release did not give the binomial name, and I did't find the "common name" in a Wikipedia search for the topic. TomS TDotO (talk) 07:02, 14 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I guess it's enough of a source to make it stay for now.--cyclopia^speak! 16:44, 14 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]