What are the insects in the Arctic?

According to statistics, there are more than 2 million species of various insects worldwide, mainly living in tropical and temperate regions. In the Arctic, due to the cold weather and harsh environment, there are much fewer types of insects, only a few thousand species in total, including flies, mosquitoes, mites, midges, spiders and centipedes. Among them, flies and mosquitoes are the most numerous, accounting for about 60 to 70% of the total number of insects. In temperate areas, the number of these two organisms only accounts for 10 to 20% of the total number of insects.

Less than 1,000 kilometers away from the North Pole, there are still butterflies flying

Strangely, in the Arctic, you can see butterflies and moths that are widely distributed in tropical areas, but some insect families that thrive in temperate areas, such as dragonflies, grasshoppers, crickets, etc., are nowhere to be seen. Even more puzzling is the fact that ants are perhaps the most numerous, widespread, and best-organized creatures on Earth. But in the Arctic, they are rarely seen. Perhaps because ants are hard-working creatures, they are not used to the leisurely life of staying at home and doing nothing during the long and cold winter nights in the Arctic.

A drone collects honey from an arctic dandelion

Small crustaceans of the Arctic Ocean

In the Arctic, most insects spend more than nine months of the year in a frozen state. They lie dormant in soil, mud, or swamps, frozen with the surrounding material. Of course, there are disadvantages as well as advantages. The cold climate is certainly a severe challenge to these small insects, but they don’t have to worry about the intrusion of natural enemies, nor do they have to worry about finding something to eat. They can just sleep safely and boldly. Sleep is a life that insects in tropical and temperate zones will never enjoy.

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