Compound Setae of a Sea Spider: An Adaptation for Grooming
Cormac Toler-Scott
Category: Invertebrates
Cameron Eckert, the Yukon Parks Biologist, collects a live Somatochlora franklini, on Qikiqtaruk - Herschel Island. Spotted by a youth intern, this is the first record of this species in the Arctic, and represents a dramatic departure from S. franklini’s established distribution. Novel observations of southern species beyond their range edge are vanguards of change in a rapidly warming Arctic. Qikiqtaruk, in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, is experiencing intense climate change impacts. Together, local Park Rangers and researchers have documented permafrost thaw landslides, accelerated plant phenology, coastal flooding, and altered species composition, including the arrival of novel species, such as this.
