“The Adorable Ermine.” SunnySports Blog, 21 Sept. 2016, www.sunnysports.com/blog/adorable-ermine/.
The northernmost part of the planet – the Arctic, a barren patch of land
where most blades of grass are afraid to grow – is home to 21,000 species.
In the Arctic Circle, animals must resist the harsh and dark winter for 9
months, and within those nine months, temperatures can reach down to
-69.6° C (−92.2° F). But how do small animals survive this extreme
weather? Let us delve into a few unique examples.
Ermine – Mustela Erminea
Ermines are found all the way around the northern part of the globe. They are found in the northern temperate areas of Eurasia and North America.
This species has three ways of coping with the cold: natural advantages, hunting, and their habitat. By natural advantage, they have an ingrown dense winter coat, with up to 20,000 hairs per square centimeter, allowing them to effectively retain their body heat. While in severe climates, they cleverly hunt under snow to avoid being spotted by others, and store leftover meals as a way of dealing with their high energy demands. Because of their lean, small bodies, they have to hide from huge carnivores when not hunting, and their slender bodies make them extremely well adapted to moving through dense vegetation, debris, and underground burrows. They can efficiently hunt small prey such as mice and voles that live under the snow in winter due to their ability to access snow tunnels.
Gynaephora Groenlandica – Arctic Woolly Bear Moth
This fuzzy ball is the caterpillar form of an arctic moth. It lives in the Canadian archipelago of the High Arctic, Greenland, and the Wrangel Island in Russia.
“Arctic Woolly Bear Moth– Identification, Life Cycle, Facts & Pictures.” Moth Identification, 11 Oct. 2021, www.mothidentification.com/arctic-woolly-bear-moth.htm. Accessed 12 Oct. 2024.
This caterpillar is as lazy as they get. It can raise its body temperature up to 42 ̊C (75 ̊F) by simply bathing in the sun. As a result, it gets chubbier with the arrival of summer, and the added fat is an effective survival technique in the Arctic. Additionally, it never wastes energy by seeking out a feast. The most it will do is scoot a little and chew on the moss. But only caterpillars are resistant to freezing. After a seven-year cycle of annual awakening and hibernation, it finally pupates for a month. Then, in their final short summer, the moths do not feed at all, meaning they do not have enough energy to survive the autumn. All they do is find a mate, lay eggs, and die as the temperature drops. The eggs hatch quickly, allowing the caterpillars to survive the winter and adapt.
These tiny creatures are tiny, obscure organisms, but within the Arctic Circle they each play an important role in keeping the environment balanced and diverse, and they have surprising tactics for keeping themselves warm in extremely cold weather. I hope you feel like you’ve learned a bit more about the world around you. Thanks for reading.
Citations:
“Ermine.” Dolomites Guide, 14 July 2024, www.guidedolomiti.com/en/animals-of-the-dolomites/ermine/. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
Millman, lawrence. “Woolly Bear Caterpillar: The Great Arctic Survivor» Explorersweb.” Explorersweb, 2 Dec. 2023, explorersweb.com/woolly-bear-caterpillar-great-arctic-survivor/. Accessed 12 Oct. 2024.
“Ermine (Short-Tailed Weasel; Mustela Erminea) | Minnesota Mammals | UMN Duluth.” Mnmammals.d.umn.edu, mnmammals.d.umn.edu/ermine. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.