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Rare sighting of wasp north of Arctic Circle puzzles residents

IQALUIT - Southern Canadians wouldn't take a second look at a yellowjacket wasp circling around their picnic, but the discovery of the insect far north of the Arctic Circle has entomologists, well, buzzing.

Noire Ikalukjuaq, the mayor of Arctic Bay, found a specimen of Vespula intermedia, or yellowjacket wasp, outside the community recently. Arctic Bay is on the northern tip of Baffin Island, at more than 73 degrees latitude.


Noire Ikalukjuaq, mayor of Arctic Bay, photographed this wasp at the end of August.

"I didn't know what that was at the time I saw it," recalled Ikalukjuaq, who managed to take a picture of the insect. "It didn't look scary to me, but I'll know better next time I see one."

Ikalukjuaq said he had no word for it in Inuktitut.

The mayor sent his picture of the wasp to the Nunavut Research Institute, where it was mailed to Canadian entymologist Brian Brown, an associate curator of entomology at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles.

Brown said the insect is widespread across North America, but it has never been seen above the Arctic Circle.

The wasp could be a freak occurrence or a sign the climate and environment is changing, Brown said.

"I think it's pretty interesting and it's part of the reason why we need to continue our surveillance of insects in the north and various other types of animals to find out what's happening with our world," he said.

Ikalukjuaq said other people in the community have also told him they've seen wasps this summer.

He also warned the community of 700 not to touch a wasp if they see one.

[original article]

Posted by thinkum at September 13, 2004 03:11 PM