ABSTRACT

There are nearly 900 species of "short-horned" bugs in the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone, representing more than half of its entire fauna in Canada. Of these, 8% are of foreign (mostly European) origin. The MWPE is largely an ecotonal zone for these insects, with latitude 44°N representing a major boundary between the widespread boreal and hemiboreal ("transition zone") faunas. These zones overlap along the eastern shores of Lake Huron, with southern faunas extending north to Manitoulin Island and northern species found as far southwest as Ipperwash Beach. An austral fauna enters the extreme edges of southern Ontario, near Sarnia, Windsor, Point Pelee and Niagara Falls. Within the MWPE there is also considerable endemism, largely due to a prairie-adapted fauna (12% of the native fauna) that survives on dunes and alvars in southern Ontario. Eight endemic species and 6 southern species (together, fewer than 2% of the fauna) are found in the region around Montréal. Three or fewer possible endemic species are known from various sites around the MWPE, but these may prove to be more widespread species with further collecting.

Table of Contents

• INTRODUCTION

• STATUS

• ORIGINS

• DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS

• POTENTIAL FOR MONITORING

• REFERENCES

• APPENDIX 1: DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS OF "SHORT-HORNED" BUGS IN THE MIXEDWOOD PLAINS ECOZONE

• APPENDIX 2: NATIVE MICRO-LEAFHOPPERS OF ECOZONE

• APPENDIX 3: NATIVE SPECIES EXPECTED IN ECOZONE BUT NOT VERIFIED FROM EASTERN CANADA

table of contents  |  next page