Researchers confirmed a microplastic particle in one wild-collected larva of Belgica antarctica, Antarctica’s only endemic insect. In a 2025 laboratory experiment, high plastic exposure also tended to reduce the larvae’s lipid stores. The study did not measure population decline or extinction risk, and its authors said the experimental concentrations were unlikely to be reached in the field.
What the 2025 study found
Devlin and colleagues’ study, “Prevalence and consequences of microplastic ingestion in the world’s southernmost insect, Belgica antarctica,” was published online on 30 October 2025 in Science of the Total Environment, in an issue dated 15 November 2025. The journal describes it as the first study focused on microplastic contamination in an Antarctic insect. Read the study record.
Belgica antarctica is an Antarctic midge and is described in the paper as the continent’s only endemic insect. “Endemic” means native to and restricted to a particular place; it does not mean this is Antarctica’s only insect or its last surviving insect.
What researchers found in wild larvae
The field work screened larvae collected from 13 islands. In one group of 29 larvae examined with μ-FTIR imaging, two had potential plastic particles; μ-Raman analysis confirmed one particle as plastic. A separate workflow, which placed digested gut contents on glass filters and scanned them with μ-Raman, produced inconclusive results. The authors concluded that plastics in larvae are likely rare at present.
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These findings are limited evidence of ingestion, not an estimate of how common plastic is across Antarctic midge populations. The sample was small, and the two screening approaches did not produce equally conclusive results.
What the laboratory experiment found
Researchers exposed larvae for 10 days to ingestible polyethylene beads about 27–45 μm in diameter. The highest tested concentration was 2,000 mg of plastic per kilogram of substrate. Beads were observed in larvae only at the two highest concentrations.
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- Survival and metabolic rate: No change was detected across the tested exposure concentrations.
- Carbohydrate and protein stores: No effect was detected.
- Lipid stores: They tended to decrease as plastic concentration increased, a potential sublethal physiological response.
The authors judged the tested exposure levels unlikely to be approached in the field. The laboratory result therefore identifies a possible effect under high controlled exposure; it does not show that wild larvae are experiencing the same effect.
Does this mean the midge is at risk of extinction?
No. The study did not assess population trends, reproduction, or extinction probability. It does not establish that microplastics are causing a population decline or threatening the species with extinction. A confirmed particle in one larva and a tendency toward lower lipid stores under high laboratory exposure are not enough to determine whether the species’ long-term survival is at risk.
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What the evidence supports—and what remains unknown
- Supported: A plastic particle was confirmed in one of the 29 larvae assessed by the study’s μ-FTIR workflow and confirmed with μ-Raman; the authors say ingestion is likely rare at present.
- Supported: High experimental exposure was associated with a tendency toward lower lipid stores, while survival and metabolic rate did not change in the 10-day experiment.
- Not established: The prevalence of microplastics across Antarctic midge populations, whether exposure affects wild larvae, or whether the species is declining or faces extinction.
The authors summarize their conclusion carefully: “Thus, the presence of plastics in larvae is likely rare at present, although our results do provide further evidence that microplastics can enter Antarctic food webs.”
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