Chapter 9. Orthoptera of the Grasslands of British Columbia and the Yukon Territory
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271 Chapter 9 Orthoptera of the Grasslands of British Columbia and the Yukon Territory James Miskelly Research Associate, Royal BC Museum 675 Belleville St., Victoria, B.C., V8W 9W2 Abstract. Of all the habitats available in British Columbia and the Yukon Territory, grasslands support by far the greatest diversity, 87 species, of Orthoptera. Although most of these species have broad distributions in western North America, 23 are not found in other provinces or territories and one is endemic to Yukon. The rarest and most restricted species are those that have their Canadian ranges limited to the arid shrub-steppe in southern British Columbia. Although most Orthoptera in British Columbia and Yukon grasslands are phytophagous, few cause economic damage to cultivated crops. The Orthoptera of British Columbia and Yukon are relatively well studied thanks to the work of a series of researchers over the last century. However, basic inventory and ecological study is needed throughout the region. Since 2005, Orthoptera in British Columbia and Yukon have received renewed attention in fi eld collections and basic research. Résumé. De tous les habitats disponibles en Colombie-Britannique et au Yukon, ceux des prairies présentent de loin la plus grande diversité d’orthoptères, soit 87 espèces. La plupart de ces espèces sont largement répandues dans l’ouest de l’Amérique du Nord, mais 23 d’entre elles sont inconnues dans les autres provinces et territoires, et une est endémique du Yukon. Les espèces les plus rares et les plus restreintes sont celles dont l’aire de répartition canadienne se limite à la steppe arbustive aride du sud de la Colombie-Britannique. Bien que la plupart des orthoptères des prairies de la Colombie-Britannique et du Yukon soient phytophages, rares sont ceux qui causent des dommages économiques aux cultures. Ces orthoptères sont relativement bien connus grâce au travail accompli par plusieurs chercheurs au cours du dernier siècle. Cependant, il reste nécessaire de procéder à des inventaires de base et à des études écologiques dans l’ensemble de cette région. Depuis 2005, les orthoptères de la Colombie-Britannique et du Yukon retiennent à nouveau l’attention des chercheurs qui effectuent des collectes sur le terrain et des travaux de recherche fondamentale. Introduction The Orthoptera of British Columbia and Yukon comprise 108 species, two of which are represented by two subspecies (Vickery 1997; Miskelly 2012). These insects occur in virtually every habitat available in the region, including arctic tundra, mountain tops, wetlands, and forests of all descriptions. However, by far the greatest number of species can be found in grasslands. Fully 80% (87 species) of the regional orthopteran fauna occurs in grasslands. This includes generalist species that are found in a variety of open habitats, species more common in alpine areas or wetlands, and species that can be considered grassland obligates. The fi rst major contributions to the study of Orthoptera in British Columbia and Yukon came from E.R. Buckell. Buckell worked for the Dominion Entomological Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture, in Vernon and Kamloops from 1920 to 1949. During this time, Miskelly, J. 2014. Orthoptera of the Grasslands of British Columbia and the Yukon Territory. In Arthropods of Canadian Grasslands (Volume 3): Biodiversity and Systematics Part 1. Edited by H. A. Cárcamo and D. J. Giberson. Biological Survey of Canada. pp. 271-281. © 2014 Biological Survey of Canada. ISBN 978-0-9689321-6-2 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3752/9780968932162.ch9 272 J. Miskelly he collected Orthoptera extensively throughout British Columbia and published many new species records, distribution notes, and other observations (e.g., Buckell 1925, 1929, 1930, 1945). Buckell’s work provided the fi rst basis for checklists of the Orthoptera of British Columbia and established a foundation for future researchers. A number of species collected by Buckell in the 1930s were not collected again in British Columbia until recent years. A few species are yet to be found again. Following the work of Buckell, the next major contributions to the study of the Orthoptera of British Columbia and Yukon were provided by V.R. Vickery. Vickery was an extension entomologist for the province of Nova Scotia from 1949 to 1961. From 1961 to 1986, he was a professor at McGill University and curator of the Lyman Entomological Museum, which contains the largest collection of Orthoptera in Canada. During his time in Montreal, Vickery collected widely and published on the Orthoptera across Canada (e.g., Vickery 1961, 1967; Vickery and Kevan 1967; Vickery and Nagy 1973). Although he conducted little fi eld work in British Columbia or Yukon, Vickery made important contributions there, exemplifi ed by the descriptions of two new species of Orthoptera that occur in Yukon grasslands, Brunneria yukonensis and Xanthippus brooksi (Vickery 1967, 1969). Most important, Vickery (together with D.K.McE. Kevan) authored an Agriculture Canada guide to the orthopteroid insects of Canada (Vickery and Kevan 1985). This monograph greatly facilitated the study of Orthoptera in Canada, for the fi rst time providing a single source for the identifi cation of all taxa and establishing a fi rst checklist of the Orthoptera of Canada and of each of the provinces and territories. The next research of relevance to the Orthoptera of British Columbian grasslands began when G.G.E. Scudder initiated a research project surveying insects in the south Okanagan in the 1990s. More than 6,000 Orthoptera specimens were collected in pitfall traps over the course of 10 years (Royal BC Museum data), representing the most intensive Orthoptera sampling ever conducted in British Columbia. This study provided the fi rst precise location information for many rare species that were previously known only from vague museum labels. Since 2005, Orthoptera have increasingly been targeted in the fi eld collections of the Royal BC Museum and have been collected in eight of British Columbia’s nine terrestrial ecoprovinces (as listed in Demarchi 2011) and 14 of 16 biogeoclimatic zones (as listed in British Columbia Forest Service 2012). These collections and museum research by staff and volunteers at the Royal BC Museum and the BC Ministry of Environment have added several new species to the known fauna of British Columbia, corrected misidentifi cations of earlier specimens, accrued a great deal of new distributional data, and produced an updated checklist for British Columbia (Miskelly 2012). At the same time, workers in Yukon, led by NatureServe Yukon, have collected throughout the territory and produced a great deal of new distributional and ecological data. The Orthoptera of the grasslands of British Columbia and Yukon are presently being inventoried and researched more actively than at any time since the work of Buckell. The conservation status of Orthoptera has recently been ranked nationally and within British Columbia and Yukon (NatureServe 2012). Knowledge of the group is more complete than ever before, but signifi cant gaps remain (see Research Priorities below). Orthoptera of the Grasslands of British Columbia and Yukon The 87 Orthoptera species known from the grasslands of British Columbia and Yukon (Table 1) are spread among seven families and 14 subfamilies, though only two of these families and four subfamilies occur in Yukon. Most of the species diversity is found in the family Acrididae, with 57 species in British Columbia and 11 species in Yukon. Orthoptera of the Grasslands of British Columbia and the Yukon Territory 273 Feeding patterns in Orthoptera range from primarily phytophagous to including variable amounts of dead or live animal material in the diet. The majority of grassland Orthoptera species in British Columbia and Yukon are primarily phytophagous. A few species of generalist herbivores have adapted to agricultural habitats, where they are considered pests. The most notorious of these are Melanoplus bivittatus, M. sanguinipes, and Camnula pellucida (Buckell 1945; Vickery and Kevan 1985). A common belief is that all grasshoppers are pests, and most species occurring in Canada are described as occasional pests even in the absence of supporting evidence (Vickery and Kevan 1985). However, in this region at least, the diversity of Orthoptera in cultivated areas is very low and most species are rarely encountered outside of natural habitats. Grasshoppers generally do not cause economic damage to crops or range in British Columbia except when drought conditions have already stressed plants or reduced range productivity (British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture 2009). Many of the phytophagous Orthoptera feed preferentially on a select group of plants, such as graminoids, forbs, or shrubs (Vickery and Kevan 1985). Some species have narrow host-plant specifi city. For example, Melanoplus cinereus feeds almost entirely on the shrub Artemisia tridentata Nuttall 1841, and Hesperotettix viridis feeds mainly on a small suite of species in the family Asteraceae (Sheldon and Rogers 1976). The most innocuous herbivores are the pygmy grasshoppers of the family Tetrigidae, which appear to feed mostly on algae that they scrape off soil particles (Vickery and Kevan 1985). Many species of Orthoptera are omnivorous to a certain degree. The camel crickets of the family Rhaphidophoridae are scavengers of both plant and animal foods (JM, pers. obs.). Most members of the families Prophalangopsidae, Stenopelmatidae, and Tettigoniidae capture live prey in addition to feeding on plant material (Vickery and Kevan 1985; JM, pers. obs.). None of the Orthoptera of the grasslands of British Columbia and Yukon are primarily predaceous. Recent collection data have also provided information on distribution patterns of British Columbia and Yukon Orthoptera. Forty-eight of the 87 species recorded in British Columbia and Yukon grasslands are found primarily or exclusively in these grasslands (Table 1) within this region. These species do not form a cohesive ecological group, but rather occur across different types of grasslands and in different parts of the region.