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Invasive insect species in Antarctica
21st July @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Octavia Brayley, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham
Imagine a tiny insect tough enough to make a home in Antarctica – one of the coldest, driest, and most extreme places on Earth. Eretmoptera murphyi, a flightless midge accidentally introduced by scientists in the 1960s from sub-Antarctic South Georgia during a moss transplant experiment, has now spread across parts of Signy Island (maritime Antarctic). Its soil-dwelling larvae feed on dead plant matter and are thriving to the extent that in some places, they outweigh all the native soil animals combined. But it isn’t just surviving – it’s transforming the soil, with a big jump in nitrogen, which could shake up native ecosystems and make it easier for other invaders to follow.
But that’s not all. Octavia’s research shows that these midge-altered soils also release more greenhouse gases – especially as temperatures rise. This may be down to changes in the soil microbes, which the midges might be helping along – either by introducing new ones in or by creating the perfect conditions for native ones to thrive. So, this tiny alien insect could now be quietly accelerating climate change and impacting the ecosystems in one of the most fragile environments on the planet.
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