[2] During this expedition organized by the Belgian Government, Romanian biologist Emil Racoviță collected, among other specimens, a flightless midge and its larvae.

[3] Jacobs named the new genus and species of insect after the location where it was collected off the Antarctic Peninsula, "canal de la Belgica antarctica" (Belgian Strait)[3] (now called Gerlache Strait), which in turn was named after the expedition's steam-yacht, SY Belgica.

The reason for this relatively low freezing tolerance is due to thermal buffering: just burrowing at a depth of 1 cm, temperature is stable between 0 and −2 °C for 10 months out of 12, and it seldom goes lower than −7 °C all year round.

[8] Belgica antarctica not only tolerates, but also requires a freezing climate to survive: exposure of larvae to such mild temperatures as 10 °C is enough to kill them within a week.

[9] In the first winter, larvae typically reach their second instar and undergo quiescence - a form of dormancy that allows them to quickly resume development when conditions improve.

As they approach their second winter in the fourth (final) instar, the larvae enter obligate diapause, a programmed dormant period that ensures synchronized adult emergence during summer.

Terrestrial algae (particularly Prasiola crispa), fungi, decaying vegetation, organic detritus, and microorganisms provide the food for the larval stage.