Fossil Coleoptera from the postglacial spruce–pine transition period near Minesing Swamp, Ontario

Analysis of Coleoptera fragments from a woody peat overlain by alluvial sands, near the margin of Minesing Swamp, records the adjustment of the beetle fauna to climatic change at the time of the spruce–pine transition. The site, dated at 10 280 years BP, contains a small but interesting insect assemblage recovered from a 1 m section. Bark beetles and staphylinid beetles typical of the Boreal forest occur in the spruce pollen zone. Higher in the section bark beetles are absent, and staphylinid beetles typical of the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Forest Region occur in the pine and hemlock pollen zones.