Canadian Forest Service Publications
The Coleoptera of the Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada: 295 new records from Lindgren funnel traps and a checklist to species. 2022. Webster, R.P.; Hughes, C.; Sweeney, J.D. ZooKeys 1107: 1–158
Year: 2022
Issued by: Atlantic Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 40953
Language: English
Availability: PDF (request by e-mail)
Available from the Journal's Web site. †
DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.946.52489
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Abstract
The Coleoptera fauna of the province of Prince Edward Island has long been one of the most poorly known jurisdictions in Canada, with fewer than half the number of species recorded in the neighbouring provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. If much of the difference in species richness was due to less intensive sampling of the province compared to other parts of Atlantic Canada it was predicted that surveys with semiochemical-baited traps would detect many previously undetected species. Lindgren funnel traps were baited with longhorn beetle pheromones and host volatiles and placed in the canopy and understory of coniferous and deciduous trees at the Valleyfield, New Harmony, Auburn, and Brookvale Demonstration Woodlots during the summers of 2018 and 2019. Two hundred and ninety-five species of Coleoptera are newly recorded from Prince Edward Island from 53 families. One of these, the Palaearctic Pityophagus ferrugineus (Linnaeus, 1760) is reported for the first time from North America and Canada. The families Lycidae, Derodontidae, Lymexylidae, Sphindidae, Cucujidae, Ripiphoridae, Salpingidae, and Nemonychidae are newly recorded for the province. A checklist of the Coleoptera of Prince Edward Island is provided.
Plain Language Summary
We had two main objectives of this study. First, we wanted to demonstrate that Lindgren survey traps baited with semiochemical lures (that emit odors of stressed trees like ethanol and pheromones that attract insects over long distances) are excellent tools for survey and detection of bark- and wood boring beetles. Second, we predicted that with very little sampling effort we would increase our knowledge of the beetle species present on Prince Edward Island make a significant contribution to our knowledge of insect biodiversity in Canada. Prior to this study there were 941 species of beetles known from PEI compared to 3152 in New Brunswick and 2338 in Nova Scotia, and we reasoned that much of this difference was due to less intensive sampling of PE. We placed a dozen or so traps in each of four demonstration woodlots in 2018 and 2019, placing half the traps in the tree canopy and half about 1 m off the ground. We collected 549 species of beetles, 295 of which are new species records from PEI, increasing the total number of beetle species known from PEI to 1236. One of these new records is a predator of bark beetles and native to Europe; this is its first discovery in North America. The large number of new records clearly demonstrate the utility of Lindgren funnel traps for improving our knowledge of beetle biodiversity and distribution.