A polar insect’s tale: observations on the life cycle of Parochlus steinenii, the only winged midge native to Antarctica ...
Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic islands are considered natural laboratories to study and understand the influence of environmental variable and patterns of variation therein on the biota, including the influences of climate change. The Antarctic terrestrial fauna consists only of small invertebrate...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Dataset |
| Language: | English |
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Dryad
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.73n5tb31j https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.73n5tb31j |
| Summary: | Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic islands are considered natural laboratories to study and understand the influence of environmental variable and patterns of variation therein on the biota, including the influences of climate change. The Antarctic terrestrial fauna consists only of small invertebrates, with just two native species of holometabolous insects, Parochlus steinenii and Belgica antarctica, and two established non-native species, Eretmoptera murphyi and Trichocera maculipennis. Studies of the life history, phenology and stress tolerances of insects are critical to better understand adaptations to natural environmental stress and the ecological consequences of recent and ongoing climate change. In this context, we characterized the habitat preferences, life cycle and phenology of P. steinenii, the winged Antarctic midge, in a lake on King George Island, South Shetland Islands, maritime Antarctic. Based on the data obtained, we hypothesize that P. steinenii has a multi-year life cycle that may span as ... : Habitat preferences of Parochlus steinenii: We studied the habitat preferences and the life history of P. steinenii in Lake Kitiesh, Fildes Peninsula, King George Island (62°S, Maritime Antarctica) over the austral summer seasons from 2014-2019, during short (several week) field expeditions organized by the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH); longer duration, including year-round, field sampling is not possible at this location due to logistic limitations, as is commonly the case in Antarctic field research. This lake hosts an abundant population of P. steinenii and is easily accessible from Professor Julio Escudero Station (INACH, Chile), allowing for continuous site monitoring during the expeditions and the deployment of year-round environmental monitoring equipment. Antarctic populations of P. steinenii are restricted to permanent deeper lakes, which are ice-covered 9-10 months each year. To characterize the terrestrial habitat in which adults are found, we established five line transects around the ... |
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