Burying beetles from Northern Ontario and Akimiski Island JESO Volume 50, 209 BURYING BEETLES OF THE genus NICROPHORUS FAbriCius (COleOPterA: SilPHIDAE) FROM NORTHERN ONTARIO AND AKIMISKI ISLAND, NUNAVUT J. L. RINGROSE, S. V. LANGER2, K. J. FLEMING2, T. O. BURT3, D. R. BOURNE2, R. BRAND4, and D. V. Beresford3,5* Regional Operations Division, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, 479 Government Street, Dryden, Ontario, Canada P8N 3K9 Abstract J. ent. Soc. Ont. 50: –0 From 2008–205 we sampled for species of Nicrophorus Fabricius from northern Ontario and nearby Akimiski Island, Nunavut, using a variety of methods. We report on new range records, including a known range extension for Nicrophorus pustulatus Herschel and Nicrophorus sayi Laporte in Ontario, and first territorial records for 3 species in Nunavut: Nicrophorus hebes Kirby, N. investigator Zetterstedt, and N. pustulatus. Introduction Burying or sexton beetles of the genus Nicrophorus Fabricius (Coleoptera: Silphidae) are large black and red or orange beetles (Fig. ) known for burying small vertebrate carcasses on which they rear their broods. There are nine species currently known to live in Ontario. One species that was previously found in southern Ontario, Nicrophorus americanus Olivier, is now extirpated. It was last recorded in 972 from the southernmost part of the province near Harrow, Ontario (COSEWIC 2011). A second species, Nicrophorus hybridus Hatch and Angell is either rare or extinct in the province (Peck and Miller 993, Published March 2019 * Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed. 2 Environment and Life Sciences Graduate Program, Trent University, 240 East Bank Drive Peterborough, Ontario, Canada K9J 7B8 3 Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Leibniz Institut für Biodiversität der Tiere, Adenauerallee 60, D–53113 Bonn, Germany; University of Bonn (Rheinische Friedrich–Wilhelms–Universität Bonn), Bonn, Germany 4 Alberta Environment and Parks, 499 5 Street, Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, Canada T4T A9 5 Trent School of the Environment and Department of Biology, Trent University, 240 East Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada K9L Z8 email, [email protected] Ringrose et al. JESO Volume 50, 209 NHIC 208), based on specimen records almost a century old. A third species from Ontario, Nicrophorus pustulatus Herschel, previously once thought to be rare (Anderson and Peck 985), is now known to be much more common now that details of its natural history have been documented (LeGros et al. 200; Brown and Beresford 206; Wettlaufer et al. 208). Unlike other species in this genus, N. pustulatus is a parasitoid of snake eggs (Blouin- Demers and Weatherhead 2000; Keller and Heske 200; Smith et al. 2007) and may have conservation relevance for rare or endangered oviparous snake species (LeGros et al. 200; Brown and Beresford 206). The distributions of species of Nicrophorus across southern Ontario have been documented extensively and are reasonably well known. In contrast, distributions across the more remote parts of northern Ontario are not known at all. In this paper, we summarize the results of several surveys for species of Nicrophorus undertaken across the northern part of the province of Ontario, and neighboring Akimiski Island in James Bay, Nunavut. We report a known range extension for N. pustulatus in northern Ontario, and the first territorial records of three species in Nunavut. FIGURE . Two species of burying beetles, N. investigator (left) and N. pustulatus (right), showing typical elytral color patterning. Drawings by Trevor Burt. 2 Burying beetles from Northern Ontario and Akimiski Island JESO Volume 50, 209 Materials and Methods We collected in northern Ontario from 2009–205 and on Akimiski Island, Nunavut from 2008–204. The northern Ontario samples were collected as part of a large–scale biological survey of animal and plant taxa undertaken by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) Far North Survey (FNSAP 200 described in Ringrose et al. 203), between 2009 and 204. Sampling was also conducted in Moosonee Ontario in 200 and 205. On Akimiski Island, Nunavut, sampling took place at the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) biological research station (N 53°6’8”, W 80°57’25”), as part of a larger ongoing biodiversity survey, in August 2008 and the last two weeks of July from 2009–204. All specimens were hand-collected from dead adult or immature geese that had been found along the coast of James Bay. Whenever these were available, carcasses were wired to the trunks of willow shrubs to prevent them from being removed by polar bears or foxes, and inspected each day for beetles (Fig. 2). Collecting methods Bottle traps (LeGros traps) (LeGros and Beresford 200, Langer et al. 206), were constructed from 2 L pop or soda bottles and baited with rotting beef liver, chicken hearts, or chicken drumsticks. Beetles attracted to the bait fell into a collecting bottle filled FIGURE 2. Typical landscape of Akimiski Island, and a dead goose wired to an adjacent shrub to prevent it being removed by scavengers (inset). Burying beetles were captured by hand each day at the dead goose. The net and collecting bottle suspended above the goose was used to catch blow flies. 3 Ringrose et al. JESO Volume 50, 209 with propylene glycol purchased locally as non-toxic RV antifreeze. Traps were hung from overhanging tree branches approximately two meters above the ground. These traps were often damaged by wildlife. Specimen preparation and analysis All samples were stored in 80% denatured ethanol and later pinned. Specimens were identified using Anderson and Peck (985). Taxon concepts follow Anderson and Peck (985) with the exception of Nicrophorus vespilloides Herbst. Recent work (Sikes et al. 206) has shown that what was considered N. vespilloides across Canada is likely two species, Nicrophorus hebes Kirby in the far northwest and N. vespilloides further east. Thus, any of what was called N. vespilloides in Ontario are now N. hebes (Fig. 6 in Sikes et al. 206). Current or known ranges were based on the maps presented in Anderson and Peck (985). These ranges, as well as our own new records, were used to construct distributional maps for species of Nicrophorus for Ontario. We traced a polygon by joining the dots from west to east using individual species maps of Anderson and Peck (985) to describe the known general distribution of each species within Ontario (the shaded regions in Fig. 3). FIGURE 3. Five distribution maps (one for each species), arranged by species name left to right in alphabetical order. The known range for each (green shaded area) was based on the range maps found in Anderson and Peck (985); our records are the black spots. 4 Burying beetles from Northern Ontario and Akimiski Island JESO Volume 50, 209 Pinned specimens are housed at Trent University in the Entomology Lab, Peterborough, Ontario. A reference collection of voucher specimens has been sent to the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Ottawa, Ontario. Results In total, we collected 396 burying beetles, from 5 species: 369 specimens from northern Ontario, and 27 from Akimiski Island, Nunavut (Table , Appendix). Four species were caught outside of their known ranges (Fig. 3): Nicrophorus defodiens Mannerheim in Ontario, Nicrophorus investigator Zetterstedt on Akimiski Island and Ontario (5° 40’ N, 8° 8’ W), N. pustulatus on Akimiski Island and Ontario (50° 56’ 46” N, 84° 5’ 5” W), and Nicrophorus sayi Laporte in Ontario (5° 4’ 4” N, 80° 4’ 24” W) (Fig. 3). Discussion Three of the species we found are first records of occurrence for the territory of Nunavut: N, hebes, N. investigator, and N. pustulatus. In Ontario, our collections of N. defodiens extends the known range northward to the northern James Bay coast. All 5 species were collected in regions of discontinuous permafrost (Crins et al. 2009). Along Ontario’s northern coast where there is permanent permafrost (Crins et al. 2009), the upper to 2 m of soil thaws out each summer (Tam 2009), which would not hinder burying by Nicrophorus beetles, making it likely that both N. defodiens and N. hebes occur along the northern coast, although Peck (986) has shown that carcass burial is not always necessary for reproduction. Nicrophorus defodiens has been collected throughout Canada except in Nunavut (Anderson and Peck 985; Majka 2011). Our collections fill in distribution gaps in northern Ontario and our collection of an individual approximately 90 km south of Fort Severn, TABLE : Burying beetle (Coleoptera: Silphidae) number collected and species composition by sampling location, from 2008– 205 throughout Ontario and Akimiski Island, Nunavut. N. defodiens N. hebes N. investigator N. pustulatus N. sayi Northern Ontario Bottle trap 45 22 0 Hand caught 7 2 0 0 Akimiski Island, Nunavut Hand caught at bait 0 25 0 5 Ringrose et al. JESO Volume 50, 209 Ontario extends the range in Ontario northward some 500 km from the previous record at Moosonee (Fig. 3). This is a common species, largely restricted to dry, upland, and boreal forests (Anderson 982; Beninger and Peck 992). Nicrophorus hebes is a widely distributed species found throughout Canada. Previously identified as N. vespilloides (Sikes et al. 206), it has been documented in all provinces and all territories except Nunavut (Anderson and Peck 985; Majka 2011; Sikes et al. 206). Our collection of one specimen on Akimiski Island is the first record of this species in Nunavut. Our records from Ontario are consistent with the current range of this species, albeit extending the known range northward. Nicrophorus hebes is a wetland specialist largely confined to marsh areas, bogs, and fens (Anderson 982; Beninger and Peck 992), which may explain why we caught so many of them; much of our work took place in saturated peatlands in the Hudson Bay Lowlands (Crins 2009). There is compelling evidence that, unlike the rest of Canada, specimens in Alaska and the northwestern region of Canada are not N.