Arthropods of the Bleakest Barren Lands: Composition and Distribution of the Arthropod Fauna of the Northwestern Queen Elizabeth Islands

• Published in: The Canadian Entomologist
• Main Author: McAlpine, J. F.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1964
• Subjects: Insect Science; Molecular Biology; Physiology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Structural Biology; Arctic; Isachsen; Ellef Ringnes Island; Queen Elizabeth Islands
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.4039/ent96127-1; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0008347X00068036

The Northwestern Queen Elizabeth Islands, i.e., Meighen, Ellef Ringnes, Amund Ringnes, King Christian, Lougheed, Borden, Mackenzie King, and Brock, constitute the most barren part of the high arctic fell field. Within this group, the richest area is at Isachsen on Ellef Ringnes Island; there the relief is higher and the variety of habitats greater and richer than at any other place on any of these islands. Despite this relative richness, however, Isachsen has the coldest summer climate of any arctic weather station (July mean, about 38°F.) and the smallest arthropod fauna (55 species of spiders, mites, collemboles and insects, according to studies conducted there in 1960) of any locality investigated during the Northern Insect Survey.