Insects at Swallowtail Native Plants
This summer, we launched several research projects exploring the intricate relationships between our native plant plots and the insect communities they support. Insects are incredibly important to their ecosystems as pollinators, predators, food, and more. For thoroughness, we have chosen to include other arthropods in our project as well.
Insect Inventory
Our first project is an insect inventory project documented on Our first project is an insect inventory project documented on iNaturalist. This project involves observing and identifying as many arthropod species as possible, with special consideration to species at risk in Ontario. Although we make some observations at our new site, our primary focus remains the main property, since the native plants here are already established and have presumably increased the insect diversity of the area.
All of the observations in our project have fields including trap type used and the site it was observed at. An additional field we have added is “Nectar / Pollen delivering plant”, which will be helpful to identify insect-host plant relationships.
Moth Lightsheeting
Many moths are difficult to observe while exploring during the day, making the use of a lightsheet the best way to spot them. We use a simple suspended white bedsheet with a UV light pointed towards it. The moths are attracted to the light, and land on the sheet where they can be easily observed and photographed. Occasionally, we see insects other than moths on the lightsheet, including mayflies, caddisflies, and beetles.
From left to right: delicate cycnia moth (Cycnia tenera), banded tussock moth (Halysidota tessellaris), rosy maple moth (Dryocampa rubicunda).
Insect Surveying
In order to track the effect of increased diversity and abundance of native plants at our new site, we are using a Malaise trap. A Malaise trap is used to primarily collect flying insects and get a more objective sample of the population. Although this trap type does kill the insects it collects, we are mindful to limit the duration and frequency we have it set up for. We identify the collected insects to order and plan to repeat the collection yearly to assess the change in count overall, and by taxonomic group.
