NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Northwest Territories residents are being asked to help scientists determine why the nine-spotted lady beetle is in decline across Canada.

Researchers are asking NWT residents to watch for ladybugs, especially the nine-spotted lady beetle such as this one found on Yellowknife Bay. - photo courtesy of Bonnie Fournier

Paul Grant, a wildlife biologist working with the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, is one of the lead researchers on a project that aims to develop a status report on the beetle.

Jurisdictions throughout Canada are being asked to conduct surveys to help researchers determine the beetle's range, Grant said.

Participants are asked to conduct small surveys of the beetles for at least half an hour. They are asked to take photos of the insects, and collect one or two samples to send to scientists to be analyzed. The beetles are usually found in shrubby vegetation, open fields and forest entrances.

While the focus is on the nine-spotted variety, the researchers are hoping to get samples of other ladybugs as well.

Grant said researchers are also relying largely on photographs, especially in NWT.

"Because it's such a huge area, we're kind of relying on people who are up there to go out and have a look and photograph and identify these beetles to give us an indication of where their strongholds, where do they occur if they're still occurring," he said.

So far, NWT residents have been actively responding to the request.

"I think the response and the enthusiasm from people up in the Northwest Territories has just been fantastic," Grant said. "It's nice to see that people are excited and are out there looking for it."

One of the most popular avenues for sharing information has been the NWT Species Facebook page.

Thanks to information from NWT residents, researchers have been able to verify the beetle's presence in the territory.

"We have actually confirmed reports from the Northwest Territories that this beetle species is still there and still present," said Grant. "So far across Canada, the Northwest Territories has been the only location where we've got confirmation that that species is still present."

Suzanne Carriere, wildlife biologist with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR), said southern NWT and Yellowknife are the furthest north the nine-spotted beetle is found in Canada.

"That particular species, in Yellowknife in particular and anything south of it, is the total northern edge of the distribution in North America," she said. "Especially the Yellowknife area is the extreme northern limit of that species."

However, Carriere said it's possible continued research could yield surprises and find examples further north.

Grant said it's not clear why the nine-spotted lady beetle is in decline, but theories abound. Pesticide use, lack of habitat and an increase in invasive lady beetle species are all possibilities, he said.

"It could be these non-native lady beetles have some sort of pathogen or fungus native species are not immune to and that's causing declines," he said.

"We don't actually know which or what kind of combination of all of these things that may be the specific reason why they're declining, but the population trends definitely show the native species of lady beetles are declining while non-native species are increasing in abundance."

Grant said that's why it's important to look at beetles in the NWT, where there is less pesticide use and urbanization.

"Because a lot of the land and whatnot down south has been converted and there is a lot of landscape use changes and pesticides, it's interesting to find out what's happening in the North," he said.

He said aphids are a primary food source for lady beetles and if a non-native species takes over then the population crashes, aphids could get out of control.

"One of the reasons why there is a concern with the decline of native species is that if there is a non-native species that just takes over and for some reason the population crashes, then we're left without a natural predator for aphids and aphid control," he said.

Carriere said the territory is currently home to 27 different species of lady beetle. She said she encourages anyone with information on lady beetles in the territory to share their stories, especially life-long Northerners and elders who might be able to shed light on population trends.

"I think it's the kind of stuff that anybody who has been living here all their lives or an elder or something, if they were into lady beetles, maybe they could tell us that from their memories," she said.

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