This Week’s Endangered Species In Focus: Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee (Bombus afinis)

Description:

The Rusty-patched bumble bee is a medium to large bee, ranging from about one to two centimetres long with queens being at the higher end of this range. Like most bumble bees, it is yellow and black, but males and workers have a distinctive rusty-coloured patch on their abdomen.

Important Dates:

Sept. 28, 2010: listed as endangered

Jan. 1, 2014: granted habitat protection

Range:

• Once widespread and common in eastern North America, found from southern Ontario south to Georgia and west to the Dakotas;
• Suffering rapid decline since 1970’s, only a handful have been collected in Ontario in recent years. The only sightings of this bee in Canada since 2002 have been at the Pinery Provincial Park on Lake Huron.

Habitat:

• Like other bumble bees, they can be found in open habitat such as mixed farmland, urban setting, savannah, open woods and sand dunes;
• Found in variety of flowering plants in bloom from April to October, with the peak population in July – September;
• During winter hibernation the bumble bee will be found in underground rodent burrows or fallen deadwood;

Threats:

• Suspected causes include pesticide use and the spread of disease from bumble bees used to pollinate greenhouse vegetable crops;

What You Can Do to Help:

• Pollinators, such as bees, are in steep decline across the globe and they play a key role in the survival of many of Ontario’s rare plants. For more information on how you can help scientists track pollinator pollinations visit: www.seeds.ca/proj/poll
• To provide nectar and pollen for bumble bees, plant a variety of native flowering plants in your garden. Bees tend to prefer pink, purple and yellow flowers;
• Visit the Rusty-patched Bumble Bee Project on Facebook here ;
• Attend our free community event titled “Decline of the Honey Bee” scheduled for June 10, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. at the UNIFOR Hall on Victoria Street (further details here)

Fun Facts:

• Only 3 specimens of the Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee have been found in Southern Ontario over the last 6 years;
• This type of bumble bee gets it nectar from “nectar-robbing” (biting a hole in the outside of flowers and sucking the nectar up through its tongue), this technique leaves marks in the flower allowing experts to detect their presence;
• Bumble bees perform “buzz pollination”, in which the bee grabs the pollen-producing plant in its jaws and vibrates its wings causing vibrations that dislodge pollen that would have been trapped otherwise. Some plants, including tomatoes, peppers, cranberries and onion seed require “buzz pollination”;
• Bumble bees carry ‘pollen baskets’ on their hind legs;
• The female bumble bee is naturally docile and will only sting when its colony is disturbed or they are concerned;
• Check out the Guide to Distinguishing a Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee here

WEEK 12 Species:

Rapids Clubtail (Gomphus quadricolor)

Description:

The Rapids Clubtail is a small (42 to 45 millimeter-long), brightly coloured dragonfly. Its eyes are bluish-green, with a light yellowish-green face that is striped with two dark lines, a brownish-black and yellowish-green striped body and transparent wings.

• Like all dragonflies, it begins as an aquatic larva and transforms into winged adult in the summer
• Rapids fly from late spring through early summer and adults feed on small flying insects

Important Dates:

Sept. 10, 2009: Listed as Endangered

July 1, 2012: Granted Habitat Protection

Range:

The Rapids Clubtail is found throughout eastern North America. Within this range the species and its habitat are locally distributed and there are large areas where the species does not occur.

• Mostly located in the U.S. Midwest, but range extends from northern Alabama and Georgia to southern Ontario, and from Maine to eastern Minnesota.
• In Ontario, the Rapids Clubtail has only been found in four rivers in southern Ontario: the Thames, Humber, Credit and Mississippi

Habitat:

• Typically found in clear, cool medium-to-large rivers with gravel shallows and muddy pools.
• Larvae occupy quiet muddy pools
• Adult males perch on exposed rocks and other projections in the rapids – males are quite territorial and make short flights over the water, repeatedly returning to the same perch.
• Adult females typically inhabit forests along riverbanks, and only visit shallows and pools when they are ready to mate and lay eggs.

Threats:

• The primary threat to the Rapids Clubtail is the degradation of river habitats;
• Activities which impede or alter the quantity and quality of water in the rivers, such as dams and pollution pose threats

Protection:

• A recovery strategy and a species-specific habitat regulation are being developed

o   Recovery strategy: a recovery strategy provides the best available scientific knowledge on what is required to achieve recovery of a species.

• Rapids Clubtail has also been assessed nationally as endangered by the federal Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC)

What You Can Do to Help the Rapids Clubtail:

• Soil erosion and runoff is a source of pollutants such as fertilizers and pesticides to watercourses in Ontario;

Fun Facts:

• Adult Rapids Clubtails only live for three to four weeks, between early June and mid-July;
• Larvae ‘breathe’ through the exposed tip of their abdomen when buried under a fine layer of sediment;
• The most significant predator of Rapids larvae are fish, larger dragonflies and spiders

This Week’s Species: Laura’s Clubtail (Stylurus laurae) Status: Endangered Description: Laura’s Clubtail is a dragonfly with green eyes and a pale face with one or two dark cross bars. It has prominent green or yellow stripes on the thorax (the area between the head and the abdomen), and dark abdomen with a yellow stripe on its back.

• It is named “clubtail” for a club-like widening at the end of its abdomen.
• Laura’s Clubtail is about six centimeters long
• Laura’s Clubtail eggs can take between five and 30 days to hatch
• Once hatched, larvae spend two to four years in sand and mud river bottoms
• Larvae emerge from the water and molt into adults in June. Adults die in early fall of the same year

Important Dates: Sept. 28, 2010: Listed as Endangered Jan. 1, 2014: Receives Habitat Protection Range: Laura’s Clubtail is only known to occur in two sites in Ontario; along Big Creek and Big Otter Creek in the Tillsonburg and Long Point area near Lake Erie.

• Found from Texas and the Florida Panhandle up to southwest Ontario

Habitat:

• Larvae need shallow, sandy or sadny-muddy bottomed creeks with forested shorelines;
• Sensitive to water quality degradation and are only found un unpolluted waters;
• During their adult life, they require forest cover beside the creek.
• Adults use riffle areas in the stream for foraging and require vegetation along the creek to perch between flights

Threats:

• Laura’s Clubtail has specific habitat needs and is sensitive to pollution, habitat loss and degradation are potential threats to the species
• Development, agricultural practices, and invasive species – especially round goby – may also degrade Laura’s Clubtail habitat
• Many dragonflies are also killed when hit by cars

What You Can Do to Help Laura’s Clubtail:

• You can help improve dragonfly habitat and keep Ontario’s water safe and clean by maintaining natural vegetation next to rivers. The roots of plants reduce erosion and can stop soil from washing into water bodies.

Fun Facts:

• Laura’s Clubtail is named for Laura Ditzler, a member of the group that first identified the species in 1931;
• Laura’s Clubtail was first recorded in Ontario in 1999;
• Laura’s Clubtail is one of over 170 different kinds of odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) in Ontario
• When Laura’s Clubtail are larvae, they start eating single-celled organisms and move on to tadpoles and small fish as they grow larger. Adults feed on small flying insects;
• Newly emerged adults are at greater risk from predators – frogs, spiders, larger dragonflies and birds – because their exoskeletons have not yet hardened;
• “LAURA THE DRAGONFLY” has FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/LauraTheDragonfly

Just a reminder: The Ingersoll District Nature Club will be hosting two events over Mother’s Day Weekend (May 10-11, 2014)

Saturday, May 10
Long Point Walk: Bird Observatory
Excursion to the Long Point Bird Observatory, the Bird Studies Canada site and the Long Point Causeway Observation Area will give birding enthusiasts lots of opportunities for viewing. Led by Dave Baird, we’re sure this will prove to be an interesting day. Meet at the Lawson Tract at 9:00 for Carpooling. For more information, contact Dave Baird at dcbaird@rogers.com.

Sunday, May 11
Trillium Walk Daytime Family Event
Enjoy the trilliums and other spring flowers and wildlife at the Lawson Nature Reserve. Bring the whole family and explore the trails. This month, see Lawson Tract at its best. Bring Mom! Self-guided tours. All welcome.
For more information, contact Sheila Fleming at sheila.fleming@lawsonresearch.com.