Terrestrial Insects and Arachnida
of RDL

The varied plant communities and habitats of the property provide opportunity for an enormous diversity of terrestrial insects and spiders to live. The most showy are the butterflies including numerous Canadian Tiger Swallowtails. Likely more diverse are the moths including the Sphinx Moth. Ant hills are plentiful and large in many areas especially in the open bush. At least one feral honey bee hive is thriving in an old building on the land. Large ground beetles of the genus Carabus are commonly seen foraging for food on the forest floor and tree trunks.

Many of the aspen groves on our property and the surrounding lands were defoliated in the spring of 2010. In 2011 the defoliation continued altho only about 50% of the trees were effected The culprit was the large aspen tortrix moth (Choristoneura conflictana). The caterpillars feed on the leaves of aspen stripping the trees clean. They will then come down on web strings to feed on almost any green leafed plant they can find. The concentration of webs can sometimes cover shrubs, stumps and anything else in the under story. Fully grown caterpillars reach about 4 cm. Early instar larvae are black but mature larvae can be dark green to black. The larvae over winter and become active in early spring. Pupation occurs in mid May to mid June. The flight period of the adult is from during June to the last part of July. Egg laying occurs at this time as well. The eggs hatch and the larvae are present until they seek out over wintering sites in August. These outbreaks are regular occurrences throughout the aspen parkland. Outbreaks last a couple of years before the population crashes to unnoticeable levels. Healthy trees appear to be able to tolerate the spring defoliation and will produce new leaves in early summer. This happened on our property but the new leaves appeared to be deformed and stunted compared to those that were not eaten in the spring.(Reference: http://imfc.cfl.scf.rncan.gc.ca/insecte-insect-eng.asp?geID=12016)

Spiders are also very common throughout the property and likely extremely diverse. The American dog tick is regularly "collected" during spring and early summer walks.

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Insects

True Bugs (Hemiptera & Homoptera)

  • Leafhoppers (Cicadellidae)
  • Aphids (Aphidae)

    • Grasshoppers and Crickets (Orthoptera)

  • Grasshoppers (Acrididae)
  • Crickets (Gryllidae)

    • Butterflies (Lepidoptera)

    Based on reported distributions for the province and larval food requirements, nearly 50 species butterflies, likely a few more transients, could potentially be found at the property. (* indicates species recorded from the property.)

  • Meadow Browns (Satyridae)
  • Brush-footed Butterflies (Nymphalidae)
  • Swallowtails (Papilionidae)and Monarchs (Danaiidae)
  • Whites and Sulfurs (Pieridae)
  • Gossamer-wings (Lycaenidae)
  • Skippers (Hesperiidae)

    • Moths (Lepidoptera)

  • Tortricid Moths (Tortricidae)
  • Sphinx Moths (Sphingdidae)

    • Beetles (Coleoptera)

  • Ground Beetles (Carabidae)

    • Two-winged Flies (Diptera)

  • Flower flies (Syrphidae)
  • House fly types (Muscidae)

    • Ants, Bees and Wasps (Hymenoptera)

  • Ants (Formicidae)
  • Bees (Apidae)
  • Wasps and Hornets (Vespidae)

    • Spiders, Ticks, Mites (Arachnida)

  • Ticks (Ixodidae)