Common Insects of Nunavut Carolyn Mallory Published in Canada by Inhabit Media Inc. www.inhabitmedia.com Inhabit Media Inc. (Iqaluit), P.O. Box 11125, Iqaluit, Nunavut, X0A 1H0 (Toronto), 146A Orchard View Blvd., Toronto, Ontario, M4R 1C3 Design and layout copyright © 2012 Inhabit Media Inc. Common Text copyright © 2012 by Carolyn Mallory Cover photo © W Lynch/Arcticphoto Insects All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrievable system, without written consent of the publisher, is an infringement of copyright law. of Nunavut We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. Carolyn Mallory Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Mallory, Carolyn Common insects of Nunavut / Carolyn Mallory. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-927095-00-3 1. Insects--Nunavut. 2. Insects--Nunavut-- Identification. 3 Traditional ecological knowledge-- Nunavut. I. Title. QL491.M35 2012 595.709719’5 C2011-905818-9 wo8ix3ioEp4f5 Ilinniaqtuliqiyikkut Department of Education Ministère de l’Éducation Department of Education Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth Department of Environment Canada Council for the Arts Credits Acknowledgements This book could not have been completed without the generosity of the Nunavut Department of Environment, who paid for the author to attend a two-week field course on Arctic and boreal insects in Churchill, Manitoba. The Nunavut A work of this magnitude cannot be done without a lot of help. I thank Mark Mallory for Wildlife Management Board provided financial assistance and guidance reading every section of the book more than once and providing invaluable feedback. Your throughout the course of this project. The Department of Education helped support means the world to me. enormously by lending Gwen Frankton to the project and by providing financial support. Parks Canada helped fund the collection of traditional knowledge from I also thank Peter Kevin and Rob Roughley for believing that this was a worthwhile proj- across Nunavut. The Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth; ect, teaching me about insects, and providing me with guidance and comments. Their love of the Canadian Wildlife Service; and Heritage Canada generously provided insects and generosity in sharing their knowledge was not only inspirational but contagious. financial assistance during the production of the book. A very big thank you to Johannes F. Skaftason for his wonderful passion for insect photog- Photographs were graciously donated by all photographers in the book, and it raphy. We met online and then in person in Iceland. He has been unbelievably supportive is a much richer product as a result. Thanks to Johannes F. Skaftason, Susan and without his generous photographic contributions, this book would not be nearly as Aiken, Richard Bartz, Valerie Behan-Pelletier, Thomas Bentley, Peter Bry- beautiful. ant, Gwen Frankton, Henri Goulet, Ron Hemberger, Mary Hopson, Andre Karwath, James Lindsey, Jorgen Lissner, Doug Macaulay, Carolyn Mallory, Thanks to Conor, Jessamyn, and Olivia for making me smile throughout the process. Olivia Mallory, Tom Murray, Scott Nelson, P.G. Penketh, Floyd Schrock, You are the best! Stefan Sollfors, Bill Stark, Kathy Thornhill, Bev Wigney, and Anna Ziegler. Dedication Danny Christopher provided the wonderful illustrations. I dedicate this book to Dr. Rob Roughley, who died unexpectedly before the book went to print. Rob helped me to clarify what the book should include at its very inception. Learning Grateful thanks to Neil Christopher, who organized an opportunity for some about insects from Rob was both a lot of fun and a real privilege. He always made time for NTEP students to go into the communities to talk to elders about insects. Thanks me—no question was too foolish. to the students: Brenda Qiyuk, Rebecca Hainnu, Sylvia Inuaraq, and Ellen Ittunga. And thanks to Annie Kellogok for helping to collect information in Kugluktuk. Many elders provided their knowledge on insects, and in particular I thank: Silas Aittauq, Miriam Qiyuk, Norman Attungala, Rita Oosuaq, Aulaqiaq Areak, Kalluk Palituq, Lydia Jaypoody, Peter Kunilusie, Nellie Hikok Kanovak, Alice Ayalik, Joseph Niptanatiak, Bessie Hayokhok, Celestin Erkidjuk, Marie Ell, Neevee Nowdlak, Pauline Erkidjuk, Mary Ittunga, Judas Ikadliyuk, Bernadette Uttaq, and Lucy Ikadliyuk. I have benefitted greatly from the assistance and support of:Rick Armstrong, Neil Christopher, Mathieu Dumond, Gwen Frankton, Henri Goulet, Peter Kevin, Mark Mallory, Jim Noble, Doug and Laurie Post, Tony Romito, Rob Roughley, Cory Sheffield, Johannes F. Skaftason, Anna Ziegler, and Ruth Devries. Biography Table of Contents Introduction ...........................................................................................................................3 Carolyn Mallory lives in Iqaluit, where 1. What Are Insects? .............................................................................................................4 she divides her time between library work 2. How to Use This Book ....................................................................................................6 and writing. Since moving to Nunavut in 3. Class Insecta ......................................................................................................................8 1999, she has dedicated much of her time to learning about the natural world around her. 4. Adaptations and Cold-hardiness ..................................................................................13 This is her second book, following the very 5. Importance of Arctic Insects .......................................................................................15 popular Common Plants of Nunavut, which she co-wrote with Susan Aiken. Insects seemed CLASS Insecta – INSECTS like a natural follow-up to plants. Orders Ephemeroptera – Mayflies ................................................................. 20 Plecoptera – Stoneflies .......................................................................22 Carolyn is currently working on several Blattodea – Cockroaches ....................................................................24 fiction projects and had her first poem Phthiraptera – Lice ..............................................................................26 published this year. Hemiptera – True Bugs and Homopteran Insects .........................30 Aphididae – Aphids ................................................................34 Johannes F. Skaftason was born in Iceland. He studied pharmacy in both Iceland Coleoptera – Beetles ...........................................................................36 and Denmark and at one time was an assistant professor of pharmacology at the Carabidae – Ground Beetles ..................................................38 University of Iceland. After owning and managing several pharmacies in Iceland, he Dytiscidae – Predaceous Diving Beetles ..............................40 retired in 1999. It was then that Johannes started studying and photographing insects, Hydrophilidae – Water Scavenger Beetles ...........................44 which have always been a passion of his. He is still working at this pursuit. Silphidae – Carrion Beetles ....................................................46 Staphylinidae – Rove Beetles .................................................48 Elateridae – Click Beetles .......................................................50 Coccinellidae – Ladybird Beetles ..........................................52 Curculionidae – Weevils .........................................................54 Diptera – Flies .....................................................................................56 Trichoceridae – Winter Crane Flies ......................................58 Tipulidae – Crane Flies ...........................................................60 Culicidae – Mosquitoes...........................................................62 Simuliidae – Black Flies ..........................................................66 Ceratopogonidae – No-see-ums ...........................................68 Chironimidae – Non-biting Midges .....................................70 Sciaridae – Dark-winged Fungus Gnats ..............................72 Cecidomyiidae – Gall Midges ................................................74 Tabanidae – Horseflies ...........................................................76 1 Empididae – Balloon Flies .....................................................78 Introduction Dolichopodidae – Long-legged Flies ...................................80 Syrphidae – Hoverflies ............................................................82 Most of us are familiar with the large, spectacular wildlife that lives in Nunavut. Some of us Scathophagidae – Dung Flies ................................................84 have been lucky enough to see polar bears, caribou, muskoxen, and great flocks of seabirds Anthomyiidae – Root-maggot Flies .....................................86 in the wild. In this book, I am going to introduce you to a different world of animals: a world of complicated, diverse, fascinating, and tiny Arctic animals—insects and spiders! Muscidae – Houseflies ............................................................88 Calliphoridae – Blowflies ........................................................90