The hypopagea: an unexplored habitat for winter-active insects


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Date

2025

Publication Type

Journal Article

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Abstract

Upon learning of a report of a giant water bug (Lethocerus americanus (Leidy, 1847)) swimming to a hole drilled in an ice-covered pond, we investigated the extent to which insects remain active in ice covered ponds in northern Nova Scotia, Canada. Insects were caught primarily with a novel ice hole trap, but also by dip netting in the holes and examining the wash around the hole soon after the drilling. Using a submerged camera further confirmed some insects were active and motile. Over 1,300 specimens (seven orders, 17 families, at least 45 species) were captured over six winters, from 2012 to 2017. These data suggest that the hypopagea (the freshwater environment below ice) is an unexplored habitat full of active insects.

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published

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Volume

46 (2)

Pages / Article No.

94 - 109

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

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Subject

Water insects; ice hole trap; pond; Nova Scotia; Canada

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