Author: Crystal Sobel
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Ontario Provincial Parks Malaise Program Results!
Back in 2014 we deployed Malaise Traps in 51 Ontario Provincial Parks with the help of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) in a large experiment to assess arthropod diversity. We completed our analysis last year after sorting ~250,000 specimens and putting another ~750,000 through bulk analysis. That was a job indeed!
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99/150: Lampshells – Watt do you mean it’s not a mussel?
Animalia: Brachiopoda: Rhynchonellata: Terebratulida: Terebratellidae: Terebrataliinae: Terebratalia: Terebratalia transversa (Sowerby, 1846) Lampshells, including Terebratalia transversa, belong to the phylum Brachiopoda, which translates to arm-foot in Greek. Brachiopods have been around for millions of years, dominating the oceans in the Paleozoic Era (541 to 252 million years ago), but now have a smaller distribution and are…
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87/150: Richardson’s Collared Lemming – an endemic mammal to Canada
Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Rodentia: Cricetidae: Dicrostonyx: Dicrostonyx richardsoni (Merriam, 1900) There are only a few mammals endemic to Canada and one of them is the Richardson’s Collared Lemming. This adorable little rodent is found in the Arctic, west of Hudson Bay and was named after Sir John Richardson, a Scottish naturalist who explored the Canadian…
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54/150: Imagine a worm 60 metres long!
Animalia: Nemertea: Enopla: Monostilifera: Emplectonematidae: Paranemertes: Paranemertes peregrina (Coe, 1901) Nemertea, also known as “ribbon worm” is a phylum of marine invertebrate worm-like animals that are characterized by their eversible proboscis. The proboscis is used to catch prey and comes out of the nemertean’s body and stabs its prey with a venomous tip.
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52/150: Daphnia – Science’s preeminent and revered crustacean
Animalia: Arthropoda: Branchiopoda: Diplostraca: Daphniidae: Daphnia: Daphnia pulex (Leydig, 1860) Daphnia pulex (Water Flea) is the most abundant crustacean in freshwater systems. An essential part of the food web, Daphnia eat algae and phytoplankton and are food for fish, insects and water mites. Daphnia are incredible filterers, removing algae out of a lake at 4…
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38/150: Soak up this info on sponges!
animalia: Porifera: Demospongiae: Halisarcida: Halisarcidae: Halisarca: Halisarca dujardini (Johnston, 1842) What is a sponge exactly? You probably thought it’s something you use for cleaning. These simple animals are without circulatory, digestive and nervous systems and have been around for over 500 million years!
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10/150: Have you ever eaten red algae? We bet you have!
Plantae: Rhodophyta: Florideophyceae: Ceramiales: Wrangeliaceae: Ptilota: Ptilota serrata (Kützing, 1847) Red algae (Phylum Rhodophyta) are a diverse group of plants with over 7,000 species known and we have DNA barcodes for over 3,000 of them. Ptilota serrata, the Northern Sea Fern is a common red algae found on the Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic coasts of Canada.
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7/150: In the dead of Winter snow fleas emerge
animalia: Arthropoda: Collembola: Poduromorpha: Hypogastruridae: Hypogastrura: Hypogastrura tooliki (Fjellberg, 1985) Hypogastrura tooliki (Toolik Snow Flea) is part of a group of animals known as snow fleas. These tiny creatures are not fleas at all, they are Collembola or springtails.
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Beginning to Barcode British Columbia
The summer of 2014 can be said to have been CBG’s busiest field season. Not only was it the final year of the Canadian National Parks (CNP) Malaise Program, but we also focused on concentrated sampling efforts in provincial parks within Ontario and British Columbia (BC). Now that the CNP Program is complete, we were…
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Entomological Society of Ontario Conference 2015
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Entomological Society of Ontario’s Annual General Meeting, this year held at the Queen’s University Biological Station (QUBS). Allison and I were invited to speak at the meeting and bring the BIObus along so everyone could learn how we promote insects, biodiversity and science to the…