Watch this page for future additions and improvements! We had a technical glitch which forced us to rebuild our site and still have work to do.
Spiders & Moths
Spiders and moths dominated new records this year, thanks to yeoman efforts from a great bunch of intrepid researchers.
Since we lost access to our old website, many new species have been added. Most of these have been welcome additions; one has been less welcome, western spruce budworm (Choristoneura cf. occidentalis; the photo below shows the adult moth). This is the species responsible for a major defoliation of trees in Whistler over the 2024 summer that mainly focussed on second-growth Douglas-fir stands. Although repeated defoliation caused by such insects can kill trees, we have our fingers crossed the outbreak will taper off in 2025 and subsequent years and result in limited mortality. Note that insect and fungal outbreaks are a natural and necessary component of healthy forests that can actually create habitat for other species. More on this topic in 2025. Also refer to the Cheakamus Community Forest website for information and updates: https://cheakamuscommunityforest.com/news/red-trees-at-mid-elevation/.
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Spiders
Robb Bennett is a spider expert who was accompanied by a cadre of other invertebrate experts associated with the Royal BC Museum: Claudia Copley and Daren Copley in 2010 and 2011, and also James Miskelly and Kirsten Harrison in 2010. The result of their work is the first spider list for Whistler and also vast improvements on our knowledge of other invertebrates.
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Before Robb and crew arrived, we knew of a handful of local spiders here. Now we know that at least 99 species make their home here, of which 98 should be here and one which shouldn’t, the introduced European garden spider (Araneus diadematus).
The current (and growing!) list of Whistler spiders is here: spider-Araneae summary Nov 2011. Robb’s succinct, scientific, but excited report about the significance of these records is here: Whistler spider report & data Robb Bennett 2010 2011.
Moths and other invertebrates
Rick and Libby Avis first contributed to the Whistler Biodiversity Project database when they made the trek to the 2010 BioBlitz from Port Alberni. Luckily for us, they had a good enough time they came back again this year, and our lists are all the richer for their amazing efforts and expertise.
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The current list of moths, all but one or two from Libby and Rick, is here: moths-Lepidoptera summary Nov 2011. Their many other sightings are included in the overall list of invertebrates (see species lists page).