Newsletter of the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods)
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Spring 2009 Vol. 28, No. 1 NEWSLETTER OF THE BIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA (TERRESTRIAL ARTHROPODS) Table of Contents General Information and Editorial Notes ..................................... (inside front cover) News and Notes Biological Survey of Canada Symposium ................................................................1 News from the BSC Secretariat ...............................................................................1 Biological Survey of Canada Scholarship awarded .................................................2 Curation Blitz at Canadian Museum of Nature .........................................................3 2009 Curation Blitz ...................................................................................................3 New Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification issue on Mayflies ......................4 Specimens and information sought ..........................................................................4 Summary of the Scientific Committee meeting .......................................................5 New Guide to Northern Grasshoppers and their Relatives ......................................8 Scientific Committee members ................................................................................9 Why We Kill Bugs – The Case for Collecting Insects ............................................10 Arctic Corner Klondike spider rush ..............................................................................................18 Preliminary Results for Microgastrinae Wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) .........21 Invertebrate Samples from ArcticWolves ...............................................................25 Selected Future Conferences ....................................................................................26 General Information The Newsletter of the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods) appears twice yearly. All material without other accreditation is prepared by the Secretariat for the Biological Survey. Editor: Andrew B.T. Smith Head, Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods) Canadian Museum of Nature P.O. Box 3443, Station “D” Ottawa, ON K1P 6P4 Tel. 613-364-4070 Fax. 613-364-4022 Email: [email protected] Queries, comments, and contributions to the Newsletter are welcomed by the editor. Deadline for material for the Fall 2009 issue is 31 July 2009. Donna Giberson will assume the editorial duties for the Fall issue of this news- letter. Please contact her at [email protected]. Editorial Notes The Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods) develops and coordinates national initiatives in taxonomic and ecological entomology on behalf of the Cana- dian Museum of Nature and the Entomological Society of Canada. The Newsletter communicates information about systematic and faunistic entomology that may be of interest in Canada, and reports especially on activities relevant to the Biological Survey. This newsletter is available on the Survey’s website at: http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/bsc/bschome.htm To receive this newsletter via email (as a pdf file) instead of a paper copy please send an email message to [email protected]. Vol. 28, No. 1 1 News and Notes The Biological Survey of Canada Leland Humble, Natural Resources Canada – Second Annual Symposium barcoding as a tool for species identification The BSC has begun preparations for the of woodborers. second annual symposium at the Entomologi- Virginia Anne Kowal, University of Calgary cal Society of Canada and Entomological Soci- – terrestrial arthropod assemblages at the ety of Manitoba Joint Annual Meeting in Win- edges of anthropogenic forest disturbances in nipeg from 18–22 October 2009. The working Kananaskis Country in southwestern Alberta. title of the symposium is: Terrestrial Arthropod Surveys in Canada: Purpose, Progress, and Jim Herbers, Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Plans and the co-organisers are Andrew Smith Institute – Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring <[email protected]> and Doug Currie Institute overview. <[email protected]>. David Walter, Royal Alberta Museum – Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute Here is a tentative list of speakers with the Soil arthropod protocols / oribatid results. topics they will cover: Rob Hinchliffe, Royal Alberta Museum – Andy Hamilton, Canadian National Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute Collection of Insects – border conflicts: how aquatic arthropod protocols / EPT results. leafhoppers can help resolve ecoregional viewpoints in Canada and the USA. Tyler Cobb and Bert Finnamore, Royal Alberta Museum – terrestrial arthropod Cory Sheffield, York University – the bees of protocols / beetle and pollinator progress and Canada. results. Rob Roughley, University of Manitoba – beetles of Churchill: comparison and News from the Biological Survey contrast. of Canada Secretariat Joseph Shorthouse, Laurentian University – an overview of research on the biodiversity BSC Incorporation. The Biological Survey of cynipid galls and their inhabitants on the of Canada was incorporated as a not-for-profit wild roses of Canada. corporation effective 10 February 2009. This corporation was created to oversee finances David Langor, Natural Resources Canada and the management of the organization. The – the arthropods of Newfoundland and provisional board of directors of the BSC cor- Labrador or Invasions/reductions research. poration are: Terry Galloway, University of Manitoba – Robert Anderson <[email protected]> establishing biodiversity of lice on birds and Patrice Bouchard <[email protected]> mammals in Manitoba. Doug Currie <[email protected]> Terry Wheeler and Chris Buddle, McGill Donna Giberson <[email protected]> University – faunistic / ecological research David Langor <[email protected]> going on at McGill University. Joe Shorthouse <[email protected]> Dale Parker, AquaTax Consulting and More details of the structure of the new Iain Phillips, Saskatchewan Watershed BSC corporation will be worked out over the Authority – Saskatchewan aquatic coming months and an update will be given in macroinvertebrate biodiversity surveys and the fall newsletter. database: past, present, and plans. 2 Newsletter of the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods) Arthropods of Canadian Forests Newsletter. Arthropods Electronic Mailing List. This is an The latest (and final) issue of the Arthropods electronic discussion group initiated and main- of Canadian Forests Newsletter was released in tained by the Biological Survey of Canada. The January 2009. The newsletter can be found on purpose of this list is the BSC web site. 1) to facilitate communication between Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification researchers who are interested in the Editor’s Notebook. This new feature was added Canadian arthropod fauna; to the journal website with the first entry from 2) to be a forum for discussion about issues Editor-in-chief Steve Marshall on The Cana- facing Canadian arthropod researchers and dian Journal of Arthropod Identification and arthropod collections; and cost-effective identification of North American arthropods. 3) to disseminate information for and about the Biological Survey of Canada. Canadian Arthropods Electronic Mailing List. To stay up-to-date on BSC activities and dis- See the BSC web site for subscription cussions, please consider joining the Canadian instructions. Biological Survey of Canada Scholarship awarded Congratulations to Marla Schwarzfeld for winning the 2008 Biological Survey of Canada scholarship! Marla was selected by the Ento- mological Society of Canada Student Awards Committee for her research on ichneumonid boreal forest diversity patterns. She is cur- rently examining the impact of forest harvest- ing techniques on ichneumonid biodiversity in northwestern Alberta. As well, she is doing a systematic analysis of Ophion, a genus of large nocturnal ichneumonids. Marla is a PhD stu- dent at the University of Alberta. Her web- site is: http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/faculty/ felix_sperling/?Page=5115 The Biological Survey of Canada Schol- arship is awarded by the Entomological Soci- ety of Canada every second year to assist a Marla Schwarzfeld receiving the Biological Survey of student studying insect or terrestrial arthropod Canada Scholarship from Andrew Smith at the 2008 biodiversity in Canada. The next BSC Scholar- Joint Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society ship will be awarded in 2010 and the deadline of Canada and Entomological Society of Ontario in for application is 16 February 2010. For more Ottawa. (Photograph by Rick West) information and eligibility, see: http://www. esc-sec.ca/bscschol.html. Vol. 28, No. 1 3 Biological Survey of Canada sponsored Curation Blitz at the Canadian Museum of Nature The second annual BSC Curation Blitz took place at the Canadian Museum of Nature’s Natural Heritage Building in Gatineau, Quebec on 20 October 2008. The purpose of the event was to give people the chance to see the insect collection at the Canadian Museum of Nature, to bring entomologists together for a collegial exchange of ideas in a museum setting, and to improve the curation and identification of insect specimens in this collection. The Canadian Museum of Nature houses a world-class Coleoptera collection with par- ticular strengths in scarabs and weevils. This collection is strong in Neotropical and Nearctic material with reasonable coverage from other parts of the world. Twenty entomologists attended the event, David McCorquodale (Cape Breton University) and Bob Anderson