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Ontario is a huge province with the widest range of environments
of any Canadian province - from a narrow strip of tundra on the shores of Hudson Bay, to the
mixed forests west of Lake Superior, the coniferous forests of the Canadian Shield,
the eastern deciduous forests of Southern Ontario and the Carolinian woodlands in the extreme
south.
Insects are found in all these environments though species diversity (not necessarily
numbers) tends to decrease as you go north.
Some major groups of insects include:
Dragonflies and damselflies - Order Odonata - These insects are good indicators of healthy
freshwater habitats as they will disappear when water becomes polluted. Adults eat mosquitoes and
other insects.
Mayflies - order Ephemeroptera - These are small insects that spend most of their lives in the water.
Adults emerge in great numbers but live only for a day. Mayflies are an important
food source for many fish.
Grasshoppers, cicadas and
crickets - order Orthoptera - We know we are in the middle of summer when we hear the buzz of the
cicada. These insects are a principal source of food for many
birds.
Bugs - order Hemiptera, Homoptera - These are the true bugs; their lower lip is modified into a
sucking tube
that the insect inserts into plant or animal tissues in order to feed. Aphids and plant hoppers
are bugs.
Butterflies and moths - order Lepidoptera - These are the familiar beautiful insects that
we readily welcome to our
gardens. Besides being beautiful to look at, they
are important pollinators.
Beetles - order Coleoptera - This order includes the familiar June beetle, ladybird beetle and
fireflies.
Beetles are also
pollinators but play an extremely important role in the recycling of
animal dung and dead animals.
Flies - order Diptera - True flies have a single pair of wings; their hind wings are reduced to
stalked knobs called halteres that they use to keep their stability while flying. Flies are important pollinators and also feed on dead carcasses so that
nutrients are recycled back into the environment.
Ants, wasps and bees - order Hymenoptera - We are all familiar with these insects and often consider them to be a nuisance. However, they are important
pollinators of many of our agricultural plants including apples,
tomatoes, beans, peas, oilseed and fibre crops.
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