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Anthomyiidae: The larvae of most of this family feed on plant roots, the adults on nectar and pollen; the
adults are important pollinators. This one is a genus other than Phorbia (below). Body length 6 mm.
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Bibionidae: March flies have split eyes; they can look both up and down at the same time. Body length 9 mm.
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Bombylius major: This bee fly lives off nectar, in my case Forsythia blooms; it can hover in front of a
flower and feed with its long proboscis. Wing span 20 mm.
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Calliphora vomitoria: This blowfly feeds on decaying meat and feces both as adult and larva. Length 12 mm.
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Chironomus: A non-biting midge found near water that feeds on sugars such as honeydew. Their larvae are
an important food source for fish. Length 7 mm.
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Conopidae: These flies mimic stinging Hymenoptera, attack them in flight and insert an egg between
the wasp's abdominal segments that then grows as an internal parasite of the wasp. Length 7 mm.
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Drosophila immigrans: This tiny fruit fly is attracted to over-ripe or rotten fruit, but doesn't damage
produce. Originally from east Asia, it has spread world-wide over the past century. It can only survive Ottawa
winters indoors so is rare in the spring; needing only 14 days from laid egg to egg-laying female, it is
abundant by autumn. Length 2 mm.
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Helophilus fasciatus: Syrphid flies use mimicry to dissuade their enemies, most looking like stinging
Hymenoptera as this one does. The adults live off nectar and pollen, larvae are aquatic. Length 14 mm.
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Hybomitra: One of the horse flies, it gathers in groups hovering above the ground in shafts of sunlight
around the Thuja occidentalis waiting for a female to appear.
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Leschenaultia: Body length 13 mm.
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Lucilia illustris: Blow fly larvae are important recyclers of dead animals; adults can always be found on
Solidago once it is in bloom. Some infest living animals, but this one's larvae live solely on dead tissue.
Body length 7 mm.
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Nephrotoma virescens: This crane fly, unlike most, is a vigorous flyer. Body length 14 mm.
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Ochlerotatus/Aedes sticticus: While taxonomists argue over whether Ochlerotatus is a subgenus of Aedes or a genus
in its own right, these mosquitos continue to overwinter as eggs and hatch in the spring to bite us. Length 8 mm.
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Orthocladiinae: These midges resemble black flies but they don't bite. They hover in groups of males waiting
for a female to appear. Wing span 6 mm.
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Phorbia: One of the Anthomyiidae. Length 6 mm.
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Pollenia rudis: This cluster fly is an import from Europe. It's one of the first flies to appear in spring
because it overwinters as an adult. It lays eggs in moist soil, then the larvae burrow to find (European) earthworms
on which to feed. Length 8 mm.
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Platypalpus: The large mid legs of these flies hold their prey while the fly feeds. Length 5 mm.
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Rhagionidae: Snipe flies suck plant juices or body fluids of other insects; a few feed on animal blood. Their
larvae mostly live in decaying wood and eat small invertebrates. This one may be Rhagio mystaceus. Length 7 mm.
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Rhampomyia: These dance fly females swarm to attract males, opposite to usual dipteran behaviour.
Length 4 mm.
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Tanytarsini: These little non-biting midges appear as scraps of white fluff when flying. Length 1.6 mm.
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Thricops nigrifrons: These flies eat pollen and thus reduce self-fertilization of flowers. Length 7 mm.
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Tipulidae: Crane fly adults exist entirely to reproduce, most are weak filers and are incapable of eating.
Their larvae eat grass roots.
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Aphis maculatae: Spotted Poplar Aphids, as the name implies, are normally found on Populus but overwinter on
Cornus. Regrettably I didn't record the host plant of these, but it was neither.
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Asopinae: Both adult and nymph of these stink bugs prey on caterpillars and beetle larvae.
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Ceratagallia humilis: These active leaf hoppers are widespread in Canada. Length 2 mm.
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Euschistus servus: The brown stink bug is a generalist vegetarian: leaves, seeds and fruit. Length 13 mm.
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Gerridae: Water striders are present in my small pond most of the summer. This one is checking out an ant grub
thrown in the water.
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Leptopterna dolabrata: This bug feeds on developing grass seeds, causing seed heads to shrivel and
prematurely whiten. Length 3 mm (excluding antennae).
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Neolecanium cornuparvum: This scale insect begins to coat magnolia trees locally in early August. It is our
largest scale and very visible against the grey bark. They weaken the tree, so while it is getting established the
larger ones are squashed in situ, the small ones that don't have enough inside them to squash are rubbed into the bark.
Female diameter 10 mm.
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Uroleucon obscuricaudatus: These aphids appear late July by the thousands on Helenium helianthoides. Red
aphids have acquired the ability to synthesize red carotenoids by incorporating a gene from fungi; they are the only
known member of the animal kingdom with this ability. Not only that, when they die they turn jet black but maintain
their feeding posture so you think you still have an infestation! Neat bugs. However, in these numbers they will weaken
any plant, so an occasional spray of insecticidal soap followed a few hours later by a blast from a hose nozzle to wash
them off is used to keep them acceptably under control. Winged adult body length 3 mm.
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Agapostemon texanus: These bees are attracted to the salt in human sweat, hence referred to as
sweat bees. This is one of the most common metallic greens here. Length 10 mm.
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Aleiodes: Mummy wasps lay their eggs within host eggs. When the host caterpillar hatches, so does the wasp.
The caterpillar cadaver remains intact and identifiable as the Aleiodes larva feeds and eventually
pupates inside the caterpillar leaving the host mummy intact after the adult wasp emerges. Length 4 mm.
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Andrena rugosa: These bees usually collect pollen as food and often fail to pollinate the flower. They are
my commonest bee. Length 9 mm.
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Apis mellifera: Honey bees were brought from Europe in the 1600's, later from other locations in Asia and
Africa. Besides producing honey, hives are transported to pollinate field and orchard crops, then moved out before
pesticide spraying resumes. This one may have come from a backyard apiary, if so it must be a fair distance away
as they aren't common here. Length 12 mm.
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Arenetra: This little male wasp doesn't sting. It uses its long antennae to listen for females to mate
with; the females use theirs to listen for prey to lay eggs in. Length 20 mm.
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Bombus impatiens: Bumblebees nest in several places in my garden, an advantage of zero tillage. They can
always be found collecting nectar from Clematis tangutica when it's in bloom. Worker length 10-15 mm.
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Bombus ternarius: This bumblebee is rarely seen in my garden. Presumably the resident B.impatiens discourage
them from staying. Length 12 mm.
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Camponotus noveboracensis: This ant is common in wet places and moist rotting wood such as in my bog garden.
Length 7 mm.
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Camponotus pennsylvanicus: Black carpenter ants are omniverous, eating just about anything except the moist
wood that they favour for excavating burrows. Length 16 mm.
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Dolerus nitens: The earliest sawfly to appear here, this one is so covered in sticky Forsythia
pollen that it couldn't fly. No other insects visiting Forsythia here have this problem. Length 10 mm.
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Formica fusca: This is my primary front garden ant. Experts disagree as to whether it is one species or up
to half a dozen; meanwhile it just keeps piling sand up around its nest entrances no matter what we say.
Length 4 mm.
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Halictus rubicundus: A solitary bee here, nesting in the ground; it's social in warmer climates.
Length 11 mm.
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Lasius alienus: This is a common ant in my back garden; the thorax shape is distinctive. Length 2 mm.
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Lasioglossum fuscipenne: This is a eusocial bee - each nests in its own burrow but chooses places near
others of its species. Length 6 mm.
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Megarhyssa atrata: This magnificent wasp stopped by briefly, I've never seen one with such a long ovipositor
before or since. Ichneumon wasps locate a grub buried deep in rotting wood, drill in to it and lay their egg in it.
After the larva has eaten the grub, it knows how to get out. Incredible technology! This one concentrates on Siricid
larvae. Ovipositor length 140 mm.
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Monostegia abdominalis: These caterpillar-like larvae appear early June in their thousands to strip Lysimachia
nummularia bare - they also target Oenothera macrocarpa here. They are called sawflies from the action of the females'
ovipositors, but are stingless Hymenoptera, wasps without a wasp waist. The larvae are far too numerous to ignore their
damage or to turn them
into goldfish food, so those easily accessible are picked off into a bucket then squashed underfoot on the driveway.
The larvae curl up into a ball and drop as soon as they sense a physical disturbance nearby, and reappear in several
waves throughout the summer, so it's an ongoing process. Native to Europe, this species was first recorded in Canada
in Ottawa in 1965, feeding on Lysimachia nummularia (also native to Europe); mine is apparently the first record of it
feeding on a native Oenothera. Larvae length 20 mm, adult 8 mm.
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Myrmica americana: The wrinkled dorsum separates this species from others locally. Its nests are usually
soil chambers at the roots of grasses; the area it was collected was grass until mid-summer last. Length 5 mm.
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Nomada maculata: Cuckoo bees lay their eggs in ground-nesting bee burrows for others to raise. Length 8 mm.
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Ophion: These ichneumon wasps are one of the most common parasites of caterpillars here. They are attracted
to porch lights. Length 15 mm.
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Polistes dominula: This paper wasp originated in Europe and eats a wide variety of insects. It spends all its
time in the garden nosing into the leaf axils of Lilium. Length 15 mm.
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Therion: an ichneumon wasp. Length 27 mm.
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