Volume 30, No. 2, Winter 2011
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Biological Survey of Canada Newsletter Vol. 30(2) Winter 2011 The Newsletter of the BSC is published twice a year by the In this issue Biological Survey of Canada, an incorporated not-for-profit group devoted to promoting biodiversity science in Canada, particularly Editorial...........................2 with respect to the Arthropoda. BSC President’s Update ...3 FYI and FAQ on the BSC ..4 Arctic Corner: Patrick Schaefer gives BSC Project update: an update on the biting Terrestrial Arthropods of fly component of a Newfoundland and Labrador .... 6 large new arctic insect survey................. 41 Report and abstracts for BSC Symposium at the ESC. ....................................... 8 An outsider’s Report on BSC Curation wish-list for Blitz in Halifax................10 the BSC Dezene The Biological Survey of Huber provides an Canada: an Outsider’s “outsider’s” insights on future directions for the Wishlist; an essay by Dezene BSC. Huber.............................. 11 ................11 Insect Collections in Canada Series: The Canadian National Collection of Insects, by The Canadian Owen Lonsdale & John Huber.. 15 National Arctic corner: Update on the Collection of biting fly component (Diptera: Simuliidae, Culicidae & Tabanidae) Insects of the Northern Biodiversity Owen Lonsdale & John Program, by Patrick Schaefer...41 T. Huber explore the history and present Requests for Material....50 activities of Canada’s largest collection of Notices..........................51 insects, arachnids, and nematodes..... 15 Call for Proposals for 2012 BioBlitz.................51 FYI and FAQs about the BSC: BSC President Dave Langor answers questions about Join the BSC...................52 the Biological Survey and the Biological Survey Found ation.......................................................................4 Visit Our website | Contact us | Previous issues Biological Survey of Canada New Address: c/o Entomological Society of Canada 393 Winston Avenue, Ottawa, ON K2A 1Y8 [email protected] 2 Newsletter of the Biological Survey of Canada Editorial: Re-inventing the Biological Survey of Canada Donna Giberson The recent Biological Survey of Canada symposium (at the annual meeting of the Entomological Society of Canada, Halifax) presented a great series of papers, exploring ideas from a broad perspective on how to conduct a “Biological Survey of Canada”. As we continue to “re-invent” the BSC after losing the core funding from the Canadian National Museum, this session provided the board with many ideas and challenges for the future. For one example, see the essay in this issue by Dezene Huber (see p. 11) that is based on his presentation at the meeting. If you missed the session, all of the authors have agreed to allow their slides be posted on the BSC blog site (http://biologicalsurvey.wordpress. com/). The Halifax meeting also saw the third Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Biological Survey of Canada corporation, and marked the point where the transitional Board of Directors gave way to a new elected Board to help steer the BSC into the future. A call for nominations to the board in the summer edition of this newsletter resulted in the names of nine individuals who agreed to serve a two year term. However, it was clear at the meeting that there was significant confusion about the process for membership and board elections, so our new BSC president has written a “BSC FAQs’ piece for this newsletter to try to clarify the process (see p. 4). As the BSC moves into the future, we are excited to broaden our membership and representation on the Board. Over the next few weeks, you should see gradual changes to the Biological Survey of Canada website, as our new Communications sub-committee works to update content and the overall look of the site. We welcome comments to help guide this process. Don’t forget to visit the blog (http://biologicalsurvey.wordpress.com/), as well as the Canadian- arthropods listserve*, to comment on biodiversity issues or the BSC activities. *To subscribe to the listserve or to view the archives go to http://www.mailman.srv.ualberta.ca/mailman/listinfo/canadian-arthropods For this issue, we also welcome Doug Currie (Royal Ontario Museum), as Associate Editor of the newsletter, helping with content and copy editing. Welcome Doug! Questions? Please contact us at [email protected] The Newsletter of the Biological Survey of Canada is published twice a year (sum- mer and winter) by the Biological Survey of Canada, an incorporated not-for-profit group devoted to promoting biodiversity science in Canada, particularly with respect to the Arthropoda. Send submissions to: Dr. Donna Giberson ([email protected]) or Dr. Doug Currie ([email protected]) Newsletter of the Biological Survey of Canada Department of Biology, University of Prince Edward Island 550 University Ave., Charlottetown, PE C1A 4P3 Masthead image: Tricoloured Bumblebee, Bombus ternarius photographed on Lupins in PEI in 2010, D.Giberson Return to front page Volume 30(2) Winter 2011 Newsletter of the Biological Survey of Canada 3 Update on the Biological Survey of Canada/ Commission biologique du Canada activities David Langor, Northern Forestry Centre, Natural Resources Canada, Edmonton, AB The fall and early winter of 2011 has been a period of high activity for the BSC. Many of our members are fresh from the highly successful ESC/AES JAM in Halifax. During the JAM, the BSC held its third AGM and elected a new Board of Directors that will serve the BSC until the fall of 2013. The increased interest in the BSC and the expansion of our membership allowed us to elect nine Directors, the maximum allowed under our by- laws, and up from six Directors during the last two years. The new and expanded Board has already met via conference call and elected its Officers for the 2011-13 period: Da- vid Langor (President), Terry Wheeler (Vice-President), Donna Giberson (Secretary) and Patrice Bouchard (Treasurer). The Board is rounded out by Directors John Acorn, Héctor Cárcamo, Doug Currie, Jade Savage and Joe Shorthouse. As well, the Board approved the creation of a new Communications Officer position and elected atP Crawford to this position. Welcome to new Directors and Officers, and a special thanks to retiring Director Felix Sperling and Secretary Susan Goods for their many years of outstanding service to the BSC. After serving as President of the BSC for the last three years, and as Chair of the Scientific Committee of the BSC since 1995, Joe Shorthouse has decided to retire from his leadership role, although he is thankfully remaining as a Director. Joe’s wise leadership and strong advocacy has been immensely appreciated, especially during the recent transition period for the BSC. The BSC recently decided to end its 30-year partnership with the Canadian Museum of Nature when it became clear that the CMN no longer wished to invest in this relation- ship. We are now in the process of moving BSC physical assets to the ESC offices in Ottawa, and changing our email and mailing addresses. The new Board is already hard at work considering future directions of the BSC, reviewing the use and content of the website and blog, exploring strategic partnerships and ways of expanding BSC mem- bership, managing ongoing BSC projects and discussing the possible amalgamation of the BSC and the Biological Survey Foundation (see p. 4 for information on these two organizations). During the recent JAM the BSC hosted its annual Symposium, this year entitled “How to Complete a Biological Survey of Canada”, and featuring eight speakers from a wide diversity of backgrounds and expertise (see p. 8). The symposium was well-re- ceived and gave rise to many good ideas that will continue to be discussed and explored by the Board as it gives consideration to the future of the BSC. Another BSC-sponsored event at this year’s JAM was a Curation Blitz organized by David McCorquodale (see p. 10). The BSC remains very active with information synthesis and dissemination. The third and final volume of the Arthropods of Canadian Grasslands book series is in the ad- vanced planning stage. I am pleased that Hector Carcamo has agreed to coordinate this volume which will be co-edited by Hector and Donna Giberson, and thus far 31 chapters are confirmed. The Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification has recently released its 18th volume, “Leafcutter and Mason Bees of the genus Megachile Latreille in Canada and Alaska”. The Arthropods of Newfoundland and Labrador project has recently released a monograph, “Aleocharine beetles (Coleoptera : Staphylinidae) of the province of New- foundland and Labrador, Canada.” [Pensoft Publishers]. As well, the BSC continues to communicate with biodiversity workers via our Newsletter (http://www.biology.ualberta. ca/bsc/english/newsletters.htm), website and blog. Volume 30(2) Winter 2011 Return to front page Newsletter of the Biological Survey of Canada 4 FYI and FAQ Biological Survey of Canada/ Commission biologique du Canada Dave Langor, Northern Forestry Centre, Natural Resources Canada, Edmonton, AB Over recent weeks there have been many questions posed by BSC members and non-members about the operations and membership of the BSC. This is of concern to the Directors as there has been considerable effort invested over the last three years to clarify and communicate these issues and seek broader involvement in the BSC. The purpose of this article is to pose and answer frequently asked questions concerning the BSC. 1.What is the BSC? The BSC is grass-roots network of biologists that has been in existence for almost 35 years. The BSC is a non-profit, charitable organization that is dedicated to discovering, synthesizing, and sharing knowledge about Canada’s biological diversity. The objectives of the BSC are to: 1) identify and address gaps in knowledge of Canada’s biological diversity; 2) promote the importance of fundamental taxonomic research on Canadian species, and provide access to expertise on Canadian biodiversity; and 3) promote awareness of the values and vulnerabilities of Canada’s biological diversity by inspiring, educating, and engaging Canadians.