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| General information and editorial notes News and Notes Summary of the Scientific Committee Meeting Canadian Biodiversity Network Conference Biological Survey Website Update The E. H. Strickland Entomological Museum Project Update: Arthropods of Canadian Grasslands Arctic Corner Arctic insects, Global warming and the ITEX Program List of Requests for Material or Information Required for Studies of the Canadian Fauna 2001
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— test your knowledge of Canada and
its fauna — 1.Give the approximate
elevations above mean sea level of: Vancouver, BC Toronto, Ontario Ottawa/Hull, Ontario/Quebec Montreal, Quebec Calgary, Alberta Answer 2.The dry valleys and south facing slopes of central British Columbia are characterized
by bunch grasses and, depending on location, by several drought-resistant shrubs, the
common names of which all end with the same syllable — name three of them.
Answer 3.In a series of generic names of Canadian terrestrial arthropods that increase
progressively by one syllable (i.e. one-syllable name, two-syllable name, three-syllable
name, etc.), how many syllables can you reach (if this exercise is too easy, confine
yourself to one order or family). Answer 4.What are the normal foods of the following species or groups: a) mosquito larvae b) adult female mosquitoes c) hawk moths d) Cecropia moths e) flea larvae f) shore bugs g) stink bugs h) lygaeid bugs Answer 5.Concentration corner: This question requires concentration and a numerical answer. Read the following passage only once without looking back or ahead and then go to the
answer and respond to the question there. Houseflies are being swatted in an infested barn by several technicians, each of whom
makes a deposit in a pile in a dish. Unfortunately some of the flies are only stunned, and
so they recover and leave the pile again. One technician starts the pile with 17 flies but
5 recover and leave. Another adds 12 to the pile but 7 soon recover. Successive
technicians catch 7 flies while 3 leave, and 11 flies while only one leaves. Another
technician catches 20 flies but all but one recover. Twelve flies are added to the pile
and 4 leave. The final technician adds 5 flies to the pile but none escape. Answer
Answers to Faunal Quiz
1.The approximate elevations above mean sea level of these cities, which are the five largest in Canada, are: Vancouver: 2 metres Toronto: 35 metres Ottawa/Hull: 38 metres Montreal: 17 metres Calgary: 1045 metres
2. Common names of drought-resistant shrubs in dry valleys and south-facing slopes of central British Columbia include: Sagebrush (Artemisia species) Antelopebrush (Purshia tridentata) Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus species)
3.There are many possibilities for a sequence of generic names increasing progressively by one syllable, e.g. Sphex (1), Aphis (2), Colias (3), Dendroctonus (4), Conocephalus (5), Stictochironomus (6), Parapegomyia (7), Heterotrissocladius (8). The longer names usually have prefixes, as in Heterosminthurus and Oligophlebodes (6), Paraleptophlebia and Eobrachychthonius (7), for example.
4.a) The normal food of mosquito larvae is bacteria. b) Adult female mosquitoes feed on blood and nectar. c) Hawk moths typically take nectar of crepuscular flowers with deep corollas such as honeysuckle. d) Cecropia moth adults, like other saturniids, do not feed. e) The food of flea larvae varies according to species but ranges from detritus and host by-products to other arthropods. f) Shore bugs prey on other insects. g) Stink bugs, depending on the species, feed on plant material, other insects or both. h) Most lygaeids feed on seeds.
Answer the question: How many technicians are there? (Most responses to this question suggest that people tend to concentrate at any one time on the most obvious possibility, a potential danger in experiments.) |
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