Naemia s. seriata

Majka, Christopher G. & Mccorquodale, David B., 2006, The Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) of the Maritime Provinces of Canada: new records, biogeographic notes, and conservation concerns, Zootaxa 1154, pp. 49-68 : 63-64

Naemia s. seriata and salt marshes

Naemia s. seriata is a species of particular interest. Hitherto it has been recorded from the eastern seaboard of the United States as far north as Rhode Island and Maine. In Nova Scotia it has been found in salt­marshes; a) on Cape Sable Island, in the extreme southwest of the province; b) along the estuary of the Annapolis River; and c) along the estuary of the Avon River on the western shore of the Minas Basin.

The species is absent from the salt­marshes along the Peticodiac River estuary in Shepody Bay, New Brunswick, however, the Tantramar salt­marsh complexes around the estuaries of the Missaguash and Maccan Rivers on the Nova Scotia­New Brunswick border, and the salt­marsh complexes along the Shubenacadie River estuary at the eastern end of the Minas Basin have not been examined for the presence of this species.

However, of the estimated 35,700 hectares of salt marshes present in the Bay of Fundy at the time of European colonization, only 5,000–6,000 (~ 16%) still exist. Fifty­seven percent of large and medium­sized rivers that flow into the Bay of Fundy have dams, causeways, and other forms of tidal restrictions and coastal wetlands have experienced various other forms of environmental degradation ( Percy 1996, 1999), all indicating the potential vulnerability of this salt marsh species in Nova Scotia.

The southern tip of Shelburne County, where Cape Sable Island is located, is the only portion of Atlantic Canada where the average annual number of frost­free days exceeds 180 (National Atlas of Canada 1995). The Annapolis River and the Minas Basin are in a climatically warmer portion of Nova Scotia along the Annapolis Valley where the average annual degree days above 5ºC (growing degree days) is between 1,750–1,800 (National Atlas of Canada 1995, McCalla 1988). This would appear to indicate that N. s. seriata is at the northern limit of its environmental tolerances and is able to survive in Nova Scotia only in such relatively warmer pockets.