Microplastics have entered Antarctica’s soil ecosystem, subtly affecting its only native insect and revealing how far human pollution now reaches.
An international team of scientists led by researchers at the University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment has discovered that Antarctica’s only native insect is already consuming microplastics, even in one of the most isolated environments on Earth.
The findings, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, mark the first time researchers have directly studied the effects of microplastics on an Antarctic insect and confirmed the presence of plastic particles inside wild-caught midges.
The project was led by Jack Devlin, who began the work in 2020 during his Ph.D. studies before later relocating to Scotland to work as a marine ornithologist. He said the idea for the research emerged after watching a documentary on plastic pollution.
“Watching that film just blew my mind,” Devlin said. “I started reading about plastic’s effects on insects and thought, ‘If plastic is turning up everywhere else, what about rare places like Antarctica?’”
A tough little midge in a changing environment
Belgica antarctica, the species at the center of the study, is a tiny nonbiting midge roughly the size of a grain of rice. It is the southernmost insect on the planet and the only insect species found exclusively in Antarctica. Its larvae live in damp patches of moss and algae along the Antarctic Peninsula, where they can reach densities of nearly 40,000 individuals per square meter. By feeding on decaying plant material, they play an important role in recycling nutrients back into the soil.
“They’re what we call poly-extremophiles, ” Devlin said. “They cope with intense cold, drying out, high salt, big swings in temperature and UV radiation. So, the big question was: Does that toughness protect them from a new stress like microplastics or does it make them vulnerable to something they’ve never seen before?”
Antarctica is often viewed as an untouched wilderness, but previous research has already identified plastic particles in Antarctic snow and nearby seawater. Although concentrations remain lower than in most parts of the world, plastics still reach the continent through ocean currents, long-range atmospheric transport, and human activity associated with research stations and shipping.
Putting microplastics to the test
Devlin said the researchers ran the midge larvae through a series of tests and were surprised by what they found.
“Even at the highest plastic concentrations, survival didn’t drop,” Devlin said. “Their basic metabolism didn’t change either. On the surface, they seemed to be doing fine.”
But when the team examined the larvae more closely, they detected a small trade-off. Those exposed to higher levels of microplastics had reduced fat stores, even though their carbohydrate and protein levels stayed largely the same.
Devlin said the insects may take in less plastic because they feed more slowly in cold conditions and because the natural soil they live in is complex. He added that the experiment lasted only 10 days due to the logistical difficulties of doing research in Antarctica. To better understand what microplastic exposure could mean over time, he said longer-term studies will be necessary.
Hunting for plastic inside wild Antarctic insects
The project’s second phase focused on a more basic question: Are wild Belgica larvae in Antarctica already ingesting microplastics?
During a 2023 research cruise along the western Antarctic Peninsula, the team collected larvae from 20 sites on 13 islands, and preserved them to prevent further feeding.
To search for plastics inside the larvae, Devlin collaborated with Italian microplastics expert Elisa Bergami at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and imaging expert Giovanni Birarda at Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste. The team dissected the five-millimeter larvae and analyzed their gut contents using imaging systems capable of identifying chemical “fingerprints” of particles as small as four micrometers — far below the threshold of human vision. After examining 40 larvae from across the region they found only two microplastic fragments.
Finding just two pieces may seem minor, but Devin views it as an early warning.
“Antarctica still has much lower plastic levels than most of the planet, and that’s good news,” Devlin said. “Our study suggests that, right now, microplastics are not flooding these soil communities. But we can now say they are getting into the system, and at high enough levels they start to change the insect’s energy balance.”
Because the midge has no known land-based predators, any plastic it ingests likely does not travel far up the food chain. The concern, Devlin said, is what may happen if long-lived larvae continue ingesting microplastics throughout their two-year development, especially as warming and drying add additional stress.
A global problem reaching the ends of the Earth
For Devlin, the findings show how far human pollution has spread.
“This started because I watched a documentary and thought, ‘Surely Antarctica is one of the last places not dealing with this,’” Devlin said. “Then you go there, you work with this incredible little insect that lives where there are no trees, barely any plants, and you still find plastic in its gut. That really brings home how widespread the problem is.”
Devlin said future work will track changes in microplastic levels in Antarctic soils and test longer, multistress experiments on Belgica antarctica and other soil organisms.
“Antarctica gives us a simpler ecosystem to ask very focused questions,” Devlin said. “If we pay attention now, we might learn lessons that apply far beyond the polar regions.”
Reference: “Prevalence and consequences of microplastic ingestion in the world’s southernmost insect, Belgica antarctica” by Jack J. Devlin, Cleverson Lima, Yuta Kawarasaki, J.D. Gantz, Vitor A.C. Pavinato, Marco Scaramelli, Valentina Ferrari, Lisa Vaccari, Giovanni Birarda, Elisa Bergami, Andrew P. Michel, Peter Convey, Scott A.L. Hayward and Nicholas M. Teets, 15 November 2025, Science of The Total Environment.
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.180800
This work was supported by the Antarctic Science International Bursary, the U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
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