Coleoptera Collected Using Three Trapping Methods at Grass River Natural Area, Antrim County, Michigan Robert A
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Haack and Ruesink: Coleoptera Collected at Grass River Natural Area 138 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 53, Nos. 3–4 Coleoptera Collected Using Three Trapping Methods at Grass River Natural Area, Antrim County, Michigan Robert A. Haack1, * and William G. Ruesink2 1 USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, 3101 Technology Blvd., Suite F, Lansing, MI 48910 (emeritus) 2 Illinois Natural History Survey, 1816 S Oak St, Champaign, IL 61820 (emeritus) * Corresponding author: (e-mail: [email protected]) Abstract Overall, 409 Coleoptera species (369 identified to species, 24 to genus only, and 16 to subfamily only), representing 275 genera and 58 beetle families, were collected from late May through late September 2017 at the Grass River Natural Area (GRNA), Antrim Coun- ty, Michigan, using baited multi-funnel traps (210 species), pitfall traps (104 species), and sweep nets (168 species). All three collecting methods were used in three distinct habitats: a rich conifer swamp (cedar), near the edge of a red pine plantation (pine), and within a mesic northern hardwood forest (hardwoods). Additional collections were made along two trails and in an open field by sweep netting only. Of the 409 species, 322 were collected in one or more of the cedar, hardwoods, and pine habitats, and 152 were collected along the two trails and the grassland site. Of the 322 species collected in the three main habitats, 40 species (36 genera and 14 families) were collected in all three habitats, 105 species (80 genera and 32 families) were collected in the cedar, 176 (131 genera and 38 families) in the hardwoods, and 199 (158 genera and 47 families) in the pine habitats. With respect to adult seasonal activity, 21% of the 409 species were first collected in May, 40% in June, 23% in July, 10% in August, and 6% in September. Of the 210 species collected in funnel traps, 144, 123, and 114 species were collected, respectively, in traps baited with α-pinene, ethanol, or ipsenol. Diversity indices were calculated for the funnel trap data by site and lure. Overall, 32 of the 409 species were considered exotic to North America, and 18 were considered new state records for Michigan. In addition, 16 species of aquatic beetles (12 genera in 5 families) were identified from GRNA stream samples collected during 2013–2019. Keywords: beetles, diversity index, state records, funnel trap, pitfall trap, sweep net Interest in insect biodiversity and con- on collections in both Michigan’s Lower and servation has grown in recent decades along Upper Peninsulas, including Isle Royale with recognition of the many important eco- in Lake Superior where they recorded 123 system services that insects provide (Foottit beetle species. Townsend (1889) published and Adler 2017, Samways 2019). Moreover, a list of beetles (161 species) collected in St. recent reports of global insect declines have Joseph County, MI. Later, Adams (1909) heightened public awareness of the threats and Wolcott (1909) added several more spe- faced by many insects (van Klink et al. 2020). cies to the list of beetles known to occur on Just over one million species of insects have Isle Royale, raising the total to 206 species. been described worldwide (Zhang 2011), Andrews (1916) published an extensive including nearly 400,000 species of beetles list of beetle species (623 species) found on (Coleoptera) (Bouchard et al. 2017). In North the Charity Islands in Saginaw Bay, Lake America north of Mexico, over 25,000 beetle Huron. Andrews (1921) published another species have been described (Marske and long list of beetle species (886 species) found Ivie 2003), and in Michigan there are about at Whitefish Point in the Upper Peninsula 4000 beetle species recorded (W. G. Ruesink of Michigan. One additional early list of et al., unpublished data). Michigan beetles (580 species) was published Beetle surveys in various parts of by Hatch (1925) for Charlevoix County, Michigan have been published since the including Beaver, Garden and Hog Islands late 1800s. Schwarz (1876) published one in Lake Michigan. More recently, several of the first lists based on beetles collected authoritative lists of Michigan beetles have mostly in the Detroit area. Two years later, been published for specific families or sub- Hubbard and Schwarz (1878) published a families, such as Buprestidae (Wellso et al. more extensive list (> 2000 species) based 1976), Cerambycidae (Gosling 1973, 1983; Published by ValpoScholar, 2020 1 The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 53, No. 2 [2020], Art. 9 2020 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 139 Figure 1. Map of Grass River Natural Area (GRNA), Antrim County, MI, showing all property as of 2020 except for a few parcels at the north end of Lake Bellaire. The green-col- ored parcels are open to hunting, while the orange-colored area is closed to hunting. Labels for the 2017 sampling sites are: C = cedar habitat, G = grassland, H = hardwoods, P = pine, RT = Rail Trail, and SMT = Sedge Meadow Trail. The three creeks where sampling occurred are marked (Cold, Finch, and Shanty Creeks). The red star inside the inset map of Michigan is the approximate location of GRNA. Gosling and Gosling 1977), Ciidae (Grey et al. 2017). Using MNFI terminology the and Cognato 2019), Cleridae (Gosling 1980), nine natural communities (habitats) found at Scolytinae (Cognato et al. 2009), Tenebrion- GRNA, in decreasing order of size as estimat- idae (Spilman 1973), and several families of ed in 2017, were rich conifer swamp (503 ac; aquatic beetles (Bright 2020). 204 ha), mesic northern forest (283 ac; 115 ha), northern fen (185 ac; 75 ha), poor coni- The Grass River Natural Area (GRNA) fer swamp (82 ac; 33 ha), hardwood-conifer is in Antrim County in northwestern Lower swamp (53 ac; 21 ha), northern wet meadow Michigan, where it straddles much of the (49 ac; 20 ha), northern shrub thicket (41 Grass River that connects Lake Bellaire to ac; 17 ha), dry-mesic northern forest (30 Clam Lake (Fig. 1). GRNA began in 1969 ac; 12 ha), and emergent marsh (6 ac; 2 ha) with a single 62 ac (25 ha) parcel and has (Hackett et al. 2017). now expanded to 1492 ac (603 ha), consisting of 73 discrete and mostly contiguous land Beetles can be collected in a variety of parcels (GRNA 2020). The staff at GRNA ways with equipment such as sweep nets, welcomes and supports on-site field research beating sheets, light traps, pitfall traps, (GRNA 2020). baited or unbaited flight-intercept traps, Berlese funnels, and Malaise traps (Dillon The Michigan Natural Features In- and Dillon 1972, White 1983, Evans 2014). ventory (MNFI) has identified 77 natural In the present study, we used sweep nets, community types in Michigan (Kost et al. pitfall traps, and baited multi-funnel traps 2007, Cohen et al. 2015), of which 9 were to collect beetles at GRNA in 2017. In this identified by MNFI staff at GRNA (Hackett paper, we provide a list of the beetle species https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol53/iss2/9 2 Haack and Ruesink: Coleoptera Collected at Grass River Natural Area 140 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 53, Nos. 3–4 collected with details on their habitat asso- pitfall traps, and sweep netting. Sampling ciations, seasonality, methods by which they with funnel traps occurred from 19 May to were collected, and status as being native 24 September 2017, and similarly from 19 or exotic to the United States as well as a May to 22 September 2017 for pitfall traps, new state record for Michigan. In addition, and from 23 May to 20 September 2017 for diversity indices were calculated for the sweep netting. Starting in June or July, re- funnel trap data. spectively, the pitfall traps and funnel traps were “closed” for two weeks each month, Methods and Materials usually the first two weeks of each month. Sweep netting occurred at all sites, starting Habitats sampled. Trapping and in May or June, and occurred usually two to sweep netting was conducted in three GRNA three times per month, including the trails habitats, including rich conifer swamp and grassland site. (which we refer to as “cedar”), mesic north- ern forest (hardwoods), and along the edge Funnel traps. At each of the three of a mature, red pine (Pinus resinosa Sol. main collecting sites, three 12-unit multi-fun- ex Aiton) plantation (pine) (Fig. 1). The rich nel traps (Contech Enterprises Inc., Victoria, conifer swamp was dominated by northern British Columbia, Canada) were deployed. white cedar (Thuja occidentalis L.), with oth- The color of the funnels was green as shown er occasional tree species such as tamarack in Petrice and Haack (2015). The individual [Larix laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch], balsam fir funnels in all traps were coated with Fluon [Abies balsamea (L.) Mill], red maple (Acer (Northern Products Inc., Woonsocket, RI), a rubrum L.), yellow birch (Betula alleghanien- slippery substance that improves trapping sis Britton), and black ash (Fraxinus nigra efficiency (Graham et al. 2010). The traps Marshall). The mesic northern forest was were suspended from lower branches of trees dominated by hardwood trees such as sugar so that the bottom of the collection cup was maple (Acer saccharum Marshall) and Amer- about 1 m above groundline. To make sure ican beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.), with the traps were clearly visible to flying in- occasional yellow birch, northern red oak sects, any interfering branches were pruned (Quercus rubra L.), eastern hemlock [Tsuga away. The distance between traps at each canadensis (L.) Carrière], and white pine site ranged from 4–25 m, depending on the (Pinus strobus L.). Along the edge of the red location of suitable trees. The collection cup pine plantation were occasional red maple, at the bottom of the funnel trap was fitted black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.), and with a small screen to allow rainwater to white pine.