Canadian entomology collections contain valuable biodiversity and ecological data. To be most accessible to those working outside of the collections, they need to be digitised. Multiple analyses of the digital database of the Odonata collection at the Royal British Columbia Museum (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) were conducted. These analyses reveal that complete digital datasets can be used to explore questions of historical and current geographical distribution and species composition differences based on ecoprovince and elevation. The results of these analyses can be used directly in conservation and climate change impact mitigation decisions. These analyses are possible only because the Odonata collection has received concerted effort to digitise all specimen records. The full value of long-term historical insect biodiversity data can be accessed only once collections are digitised. Additional training and employment of collection management and curatorial staff is essential to optimise the use of abundant but underused Canadian biodiversity data.

The phoretic mite assemblage of the Douglas-fir beetle, Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopkins (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), has not been thoroughly documented. Phoretic mites can impact fitness and population dynamics of hosts; documenting a mite assemblage may provide information on their ecological roles. We caught Douglas-fir beetles in central British Columbia, Canada, and sorted associated mites into morphospecies. Representatives of the morphospecies were DNA barcoded (CO1 barcode region), indicating at least nine operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Representatives of all OTUs were slide-mounted and morphologically identified. There was a mean of 50.5 ± 4.7 mites per beetle, with both females and males carrying similar numbers of most mite species, except for OTU B1, which was found in higher numbers on females. OTU B1, Parawinterschmidtia furnissi (Woodring) (Astigmata: Winterschmidtiidae), was found in substantially higher numbers than all other OTUs and was always clustered in large aggregations in an anterior pocket on the beetles’ subelytral surface. When this OTU was removed from the calculation, the mean number dropped to 1.3 ± 0.2 mites per beetle. The consistent high numbers of OTU B1 in conjunction with its consistent anatomical aggregation suggests an important interaction between this particular mite species and the Douglas-fir beetle.

Northern British Columbia, Canada, is an undersurveyed region for aquatic macroinvertebrates. We surveyed the Stellako River, a culturally and economically important river in the region, for adult caddisflies using Malaise traps, then identified species by using DNA barcoding, which revealed the presence of Protoptila coloma Ross (Trichoptera: Glossosomatidae). This is the first record of this species in Canada; it represents a 680-km northwards expansion of the species’ currently known range.

Although the use of nonhost plants intercropped among host crops has been a standard agricultural practice for reducing insect herbivory for millennia, the use of nonhost signals to deter forest pests is much more recent, having been developed over the past several decades. Early exploratory studies with synthetic nonhost volatile semiochemicals led to targeted electrophysiological and trapping experiments on a variety of bark and ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) across three continents. This work disclosed a suite of antennally and behaviourally active nonhost volatiles, which are detected in common across a range of coniferophagous bark beetles. It also established the fact that dispersing bark and ambrosia beetles detect nonhost signals while in flight and avoid nonhost trees without necessarily landing on them. Later work showed that groups of synthetic nonhost volatiles, sometimes combined with insect-derived antiaggregants, are effective in protecting individual trees and forest stands. Further work in this system may lead to the development of a variety of new and useful tactics for use in various integrated pest management strategies.

Analysis of food webs is important for defining functional components of ecosystems, but dietary data are often difficult to obtain and coarsely characterised. We compared three methods of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum); Salmoniformes: Salmonidae) and prickly sculpin (Cottus asper Richardson; Scorpaeniformes: Cottidae) gut content analysis: traditional morphological taxonomy of prey items, genetic sequencing of individual prey items, and next-generation sequencing of homogenised gut contents. Prey analysis of invertebrates by morphological identification allowed order-level classifications and produced ecologically important count and mass data. Sequencing individual specimens provided greater taxonomic resolution, while next-generation sequencing of stomach contents revealed more prey diversity in the diets of both fish species as it was possible to detect prey that were degraded beyond visual recognition. Both fish species exhibited generalist feeding characteristics; however, terrestrial Insecta were a large diet component for rainbow trout. This study demonstrates an efficient approach for prey analysis using molecular techniques that complement traditional taxonomy.

The mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), outbreak in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, currently extends over 18.3 million ha of pine forest. The principal host of the insect is lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta var. latifolia Englemann (Pineaceae) although it is a generalist herbivore on pines. Mountain pine beetles do not typically colonise spruce. However, during the current outbreak, several instances of mountain pine beetle attack on interior hybrid spruce, Picea glauca (Moench) Voss×Picea engelmannii Parry ex. Engelmann (Pinaceae) have been noted in areas where severe lodgepole pine mortality has occurred. Occasionally, beetle reproduction within spruce has been successful. Reproductive behaviours of mountain pine beetles reared from pine and spruce, such as female host acceptance and male joining behaviour, were studied on bolts of pine and spruce in laboratory bioassays. Females more readily accepted spruce host material relative to pine. Females that developed in spruce had higher rates of host acceptance of both pine and spruce host material than females that had developed in pine. We interpret these latter results with caution, however, as inference is partially restricted by sourcing viable insects from one spruce in this study. Implications of these findings to the concepts of host adaptation and population dynamics of this eruptive herbivore are discussed.

The angiosperm bark volatile, conophthorin, was tested at release rates of 3.0 and 0.3 mg/24 h against the Douglas-fir beetle, Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopkins, the spruce beetle, Dendroctonus rufipennis (Kirby), the pine engraver, Ips pint (Say), and the western balsam bark beetle, Dryocoetes confusus Swaine (all Coleoptera: Scolytidae). The responses of D. pseudotsugae, I. pini, and (in one of two experiments) female D. confusus to attractant-baited traps were disrupted by conophthorin in a dose-dependent manner. Dendroctonus rufipennis was not disrupted by conophthorin. Our results extend the repellent bioactivity of conophthorin to Ips DeGeer spp. and confirm earlier experiments with D. pseudotsugae. Conophthorin may have some utility in protecting susceptible timber from bark beetle attack.

The mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is a destructive insect pest in western Nearctic conifer forests. Currently, British Columbia, Canada, is experiencing the largest recorded outbreak of this insect, including areas that historically have had low climatic suitability for it. We analyzed 26 constitutive resin terpenes in phloem samples from British Columbia lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) populations to test for differential resistance to mountain pine beetle attack, based upon the likelihood of previous exposure to mountain pine beetle. We assessed sampled trees for number of mountain pine beetle attacks, number of pupal chambers, and tree survival the following spring. Significant differences were found when levels of certain terpenes in lodgepole pine populations that had likely experienced substantial mountain pine beetle infestations in the past were compared with those in populations that likely had not experienced large outbreaks of mountain pine beetle. Although we expected southern pine populations to contain more total terpenes than northern populations, owing to higher historical exposure to the beetle, the converse was found. Northern populations generally had higher levels of constitutive terpenes and beetle attack than southern populations. Because several terpenes are kairomones to the mountain pine beetle and also serve as precursors for the synthesis of pheromones, the lower levels of terpenes expressed by lodgepole pines from the historical range of the mountain pine beetle may render them less chemically perceptible to foraging beetles.