Buggers

It's weird to think about, but there are bugs here- mites, ticks, and wingless flies. The flies (Belgica Antarctica) live in the dirt on the islands and feed on bacteria and algae. The mites and ticks are parasites that live off the penguins. Rick Lee's group, affectionately called The Buggers, is here studying these insects that live in the extreme environments. They don't migrate north like the birds and whales, they spend the winter on land, which makes these creatures a very interesting and understudied topic.

Belgica can freeze solid and lose 70% of its body wieght in water when it winters here. In the spring, it will animate back to life when temperature and moisture levels rise. It spends two winters as a larva, eating in the summers, then emerges in its third summer as an adult to mate for about 10 days before expiring. They have no predators and no parasites.

Collecting Belgica in the field.

The climate change effects on higher organisms, such as penguins and plants, trickle down the food web to these insects. In addition to these affects, Rick's group is also looking at the effect of increased amounts of fresh water in the local area from heavily melting glaciers.

A great website for teachers can be found here, and an article published by Lee and others aimed at students is here. Great information.