Crane flies (Diptera: Tipuloidea) of far northern Ontario and their distributions in the neighbouring regions of subarctic Canada

• Main Authors: Brodo, Fenja, Jumean, Zaid, Beresford, David V
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Entomological Society of Ontario 2023
• Subjects: Akimiski Island; Canada; Nunavut; Akimiski island; Churchill; James Bay; Subarctic
• Online Access: https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/eso/article/view/7407

We collected Tipuloidea (crane flies) as part of a multi-year project to assess the biodiversity of insects in an understudied region of Ontario, the Far North, as well as Akimiski Island in James Bay, Nunavut. We identified 49 species from 212 specimens collected using five sampling methods. Previously unpublished records collected decades ago show that thirty-one of these species have a long-time presence in the subarctic, having been collected near Churchill, Manitoba to the west and subarctic regions of northern Quebec and Labrador to the east. Five of the 49 species are new records for Ontario. The rarely collected Helius mainensis Alexander (Limoniidae) is recorded here for the first time from Canada and shows a considerable range extension from the southern boreal forest to the subarctic.