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Cafe Scientifique Leamington Spa July meeting

Mon 21 Jul 25
Meeting starts at 7.30PM on Monday 21st July

Voluntary collection to cover expenses St. Patricks Irish Club, Adelaide Road, Leamington Spa CV32 5AH Octavia Brayley of The School of Biosciences at the University of Birmingham will be talking to us about Invasive insect species in Antarctica 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 in such high numbers that in some places, they outweigh all the native soil animals combined. But this little fly isn’t just surviving - it’s transforming the soil. Where the midges live, we’re seeing a big jump in nitrogen, which could shake up native ecosystems and make it easier for other invaders to follow. Octavia will include a review of the science being conducted by the British Antarctic Survey, and look at some of the other wildlife to be seen there... READ MORE>

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