Insects attracted to Maple Sap: Observations from Prince Edward Island, Canada

Abstract. The collection of maple sap for the production of maple syrup is a large commercial enterprise in Canada and the United States. In Canada, which produces 85% of the world’s supply, it has an annual value of over $168 million CAD. Over 38 million trees are tapped annually, 6.5% of which use traditional buckets for sap collection. These buckets attract significant numbers of insects. Despite this, there has been very little investigation of the scale of this phenomenon and the composition of insects that are attracted to this nutrient source. The present paper reports the results of a preliminary study conducted on Prince Edward Island, Canada. Twenty-eight species of Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, and Trichoptera were found in maple sap buckets, 19 of which are known to be attracted to saps and nectars. The physiological role of sap feeding is discussed with reference to moths of the tribe Xylenini, which are active throughout the winter, and are well documented as species that feed on sap flows. Additionally, 18 of the 28 species found in this study are newly recorded in Prince Edward Island.