Notiophilus novemstriatus LeConte, 1847

McCorquodale, D. B., 2000, Notiophilus novemstriatusLeConte (Coleoptera: Carabidae), A New Ground Beetle for Canada from a Most Unlikely Location, The Coleopterists Bulletin 54 (3), pp. 339-340 : 339-340

Notiophilus novemstriatus LeConte ( Coleoptera : Carabidae ), A New Ground Beetle for Canada from a Most Unlikely Location

One specimen of Notiophilus novemstriatus LeConte was obtained 22 May 1996 in open areas surrounding the southwest end of the Sydney Tar Ponds, Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia. This species has a wide distribution, in the United States, from Maine to Florida and west to Arizona and Montana (Lindroth, C. H. 1961. The Ground Beetles ( Carabidae , excl. Cincindelinae) of Canada and Alaska Part II. Opuscula Entomologica Supplementum 20:1–200; Bousquet, Y. and Larochelle, A. 1993. Catalogue of the Geadephaga ( Coleoptera : Trachypachidae , Rhysodidae , Carabidae including Cicindelini ) of America North of Mexico. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 167:1– 397). Lindroth (1961:101) predicted that it would ‘possibly be discovered in Canada’, although up until now there have been no reports (Bousquet, Y. (ed.) 1991. Checklist of Beetles of Canada and Alaska. Agriculture Canada Publication 1861/E, Ottawa. 430 pp.; Bousquet and Larochelle 1993).

The ground beetle fauna of Cape Breton is reasonably well known, as a result of Brown’s (e.g., 1967. Notes on the extralimital distribution of some species of Coleoptera . Canadian Entomologist 99:85–93.) work on introduced beetles, collecting trips by Lindroth in the 1950’s and 1960’s (e.g., 1954. Carabid beetles from Nova Scotia. Canadian Entomologist 86:299–310.) and a more recent survey by Agriculture Canada of Cape Breton Highlands National Park (Lafontaine, J. D., Allyson, S., Behan­Pelletier, V., Borkent, A. Campbell, J. M., Hamilton, K. G. A., Martin, J. E. H., and Masner, L. 1987. The Insects, Spiders and Mites of Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Biosystematics Research Centre, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa. 302 pp.). In 1995 my students and I started collecting in open areas surrounding the Sydney Tar Ponds. The Tar Ponds are the remnants of a larger water body, shrunk by urban development. They are infamous because of their role as repositories for decades of industrial waste from SYSCO (Sydney Steel Company and its predecessors), the associated coke ovens and domestic sewage. The goal was to compare the community of introduced beetles in an anthropogenic habitat with that found by Brown more than 30 years earlier. During the summer of 1995 we collected using pitfalls, yellow pan traps and by hand throughout the summer. In 1996 efforts were focused in May and June, with an emphasis on hand collecting .

On 22 May 1996 four people collected beetles by hand, searching under logs and rocks on the south west corner, especially between the railway lines and the ponds and in debris among the few cattails on the opposite shore. During this effort one Notiophilus novemstriatus was collected. Danny Shpeley, University of Alberta, identified the specimen and when it was deposited in the Canadian National Insect Collection, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Yves Bousquet corroborated the identification. Other carabids collected that day included Acupalpus canadensis Casey , Acupalpus pauperculus Dejean , Agonum retractum LeConte , Agonum thoreyi Dejean , Bembidion transparens (Gebler) , Bradycellus lecontei Csiki and Trichocellus cognatus (Gyllenhal) . This was the only specimen of N. novemstriatus collected during a year and a half of collecting in the area. Lindroth (1961:91) notes that Notiophilus Dumeril spp. are ‘heliophilous and rather xerophilous’. The gravelly ground between the railway tracks and the ponds provides these conditions.

Considering the collecting effort for carabids in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton in particular, it is reasonable to ask if the Sydney area is part of the natural range of N. novemstriatus or whether its presence is because of human­assisted dispersal. There is some evidence to support both hypotheses .

A native origin is supported by similar distribution patterns in other species. A wide variety of species have distributions along the east coast of the United States and include Nova Scotia as the northern terminus. Many of these have major range disjunctions in northern New England. An example is the Yellow Lamp Mussel, Lampsilis cariosa Say Scotia distribution Curatorial

(Mollusca: Unionidae ). Its range extends from Georgia to Nova Scotia. In Nova

tables of land and freshwater Mollusca of Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Museum 339

340 THE COLEOPTERISTS BULLETIN 54(3), 2000

Report No. 54:1–30.). This watershed happens to be the source of cooling water for the Sydney Steel Corporation which occupies the land on the opposite side of the Tar Ponds from where the beetle was collected. There is a major disjunction to its next historical site along the St. John River in New Brunswick (Clarke, A. H. 1981. The Freshwater Molluscs of Canada. National Museum of Sciences, Ottawa, 445 pp.; Davis 1985). A reasonable assumption is that this species was widely distributed in eastern North America, including Nova Scotia and has experienced a range contraction, leaving the Cape Breton population as a northern disjunct (D. S. Davis pers. comm.). A similar scenario may account for N. novemstriatus in Cape Breton .

Alternatively N. novemstriatus may have arrived recently in the Sydney area with human assistance. The collecting locality includes the terminus of a rail line, whose parent company is based in Texas. The major cargo brought to Cape Breton is scrap metal. The rail yards frequently host rolling stock from diverse locations in eastern and central North America , and potentially beetles from these areas .

It is difficult to distinguish among the two possibilities now. If no further collections are made, the human assisted scenario must be favoured, as it would be if other populations were found only in the vicinity of the rail line. If serious searching of good habitat, away from rail lines, turns up further populations a disjunct natural population gains more support.

I am pleased to extend my thanks for their enthusiastic efforts to Lori Hudson, Peter Rankin, and Kirk Whelan, who were collecting with me the day the beetle was found, and to Bruce Musgrave and Gordon MacPherson for initiating collecting at the Tar Ponds in 1995. Also, I am grateful to carabid specialists Danny Shpeley and Yves Bousquet for identifications and comments on the manuscript. Funding was provided by an NSERC Operating Grant.

D. B. McCorquodale, Department of Behavioural and Life Sciences, University College of Cape Breton, Box 5300, Sydney, NS B1P 6L2, CANADA. [e-mail]

(Received 31 August 1999; accepted 10 January 2000)