Newsletter of the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods)

News and Notes:

Bio-Blitz 2006

Activities at the Entomological Societies' meeting

CMN workshop on Strategic Planning for a BSC

Summary of the Scientific Committee meeting

Project Update: Symposia and Workshops organized by the BSC

The Quiz Page

Ensuring the safety of biological control in Canada

Web site notes

Arctic Corner

Black fly diversity in Norman Wells
From the ASTIS databse

Selected future conferences

Quips and Quotes

Requests for Material or Information Invited

Publications recently listed, with abstracts include:

As a directed effort to further document moths of limited geographic occurrence, an initial inventory of the southwestern Yukon was conducted in 2004. Survey efforts focused on habitats known to harbor species of limited occurrence, particularly sand dunes and low elevation grasslands / steppe. Alpine tundra was also surveyed, but to a lesser extent owing to the fact that many of the Beringian endemic species have a biennial life cycle and fly only in odd-numbered years (Lafontaine & Wood 1997). Although Yukon’s boreal habitats are undoubtedly home to many species not yet documented from this territory, the boreal fauna is generally transcontinental in distribution, and survey work was not explicitly carried out to sample boreal habitats (although many of the species reported here for the first time from the Yukon are boreal species). One-hundred and twenty-two species were identified from the 2004 survey work, representing 13 families. Ten species are here considered to be of special interest, with a known distribution either entirely restricted to the Yukon, or having geographically disjunct populations in the Yukon. The only lepidoteran species currently thought to be restricted to sand dunes in the Yukon include several species of Gnorimoschema, found only in areas with active dunes. Twenty-seven species are reported for the first time from the Yukon. Owing to the lack of taxonomic information available for many of the lesser-known microlepidoptera, a number of species still await identification, and many of these species will also undoubtedly represent new records for the Yukon; only about 11% of the micro-moths expected to occur in the territory have been documented (Lafontaine & Wood 1997).

The National Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk, signed in 1996 by provincial, territorial and federal government Ministers responsible for wildlife, states a commitment to prevent species in Canada from becoming extinct as a consequence of human activity. In the past, only selected species were evaluated, but the National framework for the Conservation of Species at Risk requires an evaluation of all wild species, which includes all species of fauna (invertebrate and vertebrate), and flora (vascular and nonvascular). The process provides a preliminary assessment (ranking) of species and subspecies that are Extirpated (Conservation Data Centre rand X), At Risk (S1, S1S2, S2), May be at Risk (S1,S2, S1S2, S1S3, S2S3), Sensitive (S3, S3S4), Not at Risk (S4, S4S5, S5, SZN, SZB, Introduced (SE) or Casual/Accidental (SA). This report provides the results, ranking criteria, methods and information sources of an assessment of al known species and subspecies of Yukon butterflies and skippers. Methods: We complied a completely updated checklist of the butterfly species and subspecies known to occur in the Yukon, based on literature sources ad our personal expertise. Published literature was cited as appropriate, and a full bibliography of literature relevant to the Yukon was compiled. For each taxon, we completed substantial ranking forms (Appendix 2) in accordance with the format, criteria and guidelines provided by Yukon NatureServe. The criteria and resultant subnational (Yukon) ranks follow as a largely verbatim quote from NatureServe. These are the criteria formerly used; the present criteria are much more complex and finely divided. Using the present criteria would have increased the complexity of the assessment process, increased uncertainties due to estimation, and not increased the quality of the final recommended status S-rank. Ranking Procedures: We applied the rating and ranking system (Section 2.2.) on the basis of (1) our extensive personal knowledge of Yukon butterflies, (2) professional judgment, and (3) available written information. As well, we have experience with butterfly conservation and resource management. We made a distinction between localized impacts and threats to a taxon at the provincial scale.

This brief report summarizes the results of mostly-volunteer butterfly inventory work conducted for Yukon NatureServe in June and July of 2005. The purpose of the work was to: Search for additional new populations of ‘at risk’ butterflies as identified in Guppy and Kondla (2005), Provide additional distribution information for all butterfly taxa, Secure study specimens for DNA analysis and ongoing taxonomic review. This report only provides basic information and some highlights. A more robust analysis of the new information and its implications will only be possible when the specimens have had DNA analyzed, genitalic dissections are undertaken and phenotypic characters are scored as part of structured comparisons. Identification of some of the specimens will undoubtedly change when they are spread for study. A total of 59 unique locations were searched at least once. Some sites were searched more than once, for a total of 73 site/date combinations (sampling stations). Windy Pass in the Ogilvie Mountains was treated as one site even though collections were made at various locations along several kilometers of roadside. It was considered impractical to distinguish discrete sites in such a case of linear transects and the habitat was visually similar. A total of 1210 specimens were collected (see Appendix). These represent 51 nominal species, more than one half of the presently recognized butterfly species known from Yukon (Table 1). The Appendix provides an overview of the collections. A spreadsheet, which also includes geographic coordinates and brief habitat descriptions, is provided to the client as a separate digital file.