Tag: Ontario
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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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146/150: Engelmann’s Quillwort is under threat! Only 2000 left in Canada
Plantae: Lycopodiophyta: Isoetopsida: Isoetales: Isoetaceae: Isoetes: Isoetes engelmannii (A.Braun.) The Engelmann’s Quillwort (Isoetes engelmannii), also known as Appalachian Quillwort, is an aquatic plant found along shallow ponds, temporary shallow pools, roadside ditches and marshes. It is small fern that is 20-40 cm in height but can grow up to 90 cm. It has long, thin,…
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70/150: When you think of Ginseng do you think of Canada? You will after reading this!
Plantae: Magnoliophyta: Magnoliopsida: Apiales: Araliaceae: Panax quinquefolius (Linneaus) Ginseng is a perennial herb whose root is highly prized and commonly refers to one of two varieties, American Ginseng (P. quinquefolius) or Asian Ginseng (P. ginseng). Both contain ginsenosides, which are the compounds thought to give ginseng its medicinal properties.
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62/150: I can live in the dirt or in your home, I hitch-hike on insects and mammals alike, and have venomous pincers. What am I?
Animalia: Arthropoda: Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones: Neobisiidae: Microbisium: Microbisium parvulum (Banks,1895) Pseudoscorpions are rarely seen but are common arachnids that resemble tiny scorpions with their two large pincers and 8 legs. Unlike scorpions, they are 3 mm in size with no stinger. Using venom glands located on the mobile finger of their pincers they prey upon booklice,…
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59/150: Snorkels & Pancakes for World Turtle Day!
Animalia: Chordata: Vertebrata: Reptilia: Testudines: Cryptodira: Trionychidae: Trionychinae: Apalone: Apalone spinifera (Charles Lesueur, 1827) Spiny softshell turtles have a unique leathery shell which causes them to sometimes be called the pancake turtle! They can reach up to 54 cm and have a distinguishable snorkel like nose that allows them to stay submerged underwater for long…
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29/150: Save A Spider Day – The Spined Micrathena
animalia: Arthropoda: Arachnida: Araneae: Araneidae: Micrathena: Micrathena gracilis (Walckenaer, 1805) Micrathena gracilis is a moderately large orb-weaver spider from family Araneidae, commonly known as the spined micrathena. The females are typically black with white markings and have five pairs of black spines which are conical tubercles on the upper side of the abdomen.
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Ontario BioBlitz at Riverwood Conservancy and the Credit River Watershed
It’s that time of the year again – Ontario BioBlitz time! This year we will be surveying the Credit River Watershed. A number of BIO staff along with researchers, students and citizen scientists are volunteering their time this weekend – June 11 and 12th, 2016 – to try to find as many species as they…
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DNA barcoding and Malaise traps capture the remarkable diversity in Canada’s National Parks
Hi everyone! As some of you may know, we here at BIO spend a great deal of our field work sampling in Canada’s beautiful National Parks. In fact, from 2012 to 2014, BIO and Parks Canada partnered up to complete a massive national barcoding project that aimed to map out the country’s arthropod biodiversity: the…
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The Real Damsels And Dragons Of Ontario
Hello again faithful readers, Last week I returned to the BIObus for more aquatic sampling. This time we visited sites within the Backus Heritage Conservation Area, Long Point Provincial Park, and the Nature Conservancy of Canada (N.C.C.). Today I’ll be talking about the river damselflies that were almost ubiquitous across our sampling areas and some…
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Plants, Plants, Plants, (and a caterpillar or two)
Hey folks! Last weekend was a very exciting couple days for me and everyone at BIO. This was because of the much awaited Bioblitz! For those of you who have never heard of a Bioblitz, I will give you a bit of an explanation.