AQUATIC INSECT POPULATIONS IN TRANSPLANTED AND NATURAL-POPULATIONS OFTHE PURPLE PITCHER PLANT, SARRACENIA-PURPUREA, ON PRINCE-EDWARD-ISLAND, CANADA

In early July 1991, 234 pitcher plants (Sarracenia pulpurea) were tran splanted from a Prince Edward Island bog being mined for peat into thr ee bogs that varied with respect to previous pitcher plant abundance. One bog had a thriving natural pitcher plant population prior to trans plant, while the other two had fewer than three pitcher plants. Betwee n mid-June and late August 1993, abundances of the pitcher plant inqui lines Wyeomyia smithii (Diptera: Culicidae), Metriocnemus knabi (Dipte ra: Chironomidae) and an unidentified sarcophagid fly (Diptera: Sarcop hagidae) from transplant bogs were compared with remaining populations in die source bog and with other natural populations. Of the three in quilines, W. smithii was the most severely affected by transplant; it was extremely rare or absent in transplanted pitchers, although it was found in all other bogs investigated on Prince Edward Island. Metrioc nemus knabi larvae were common in ail bogs investigated, except for th ose transplant bogs where pitcher plants were rare prior to transplant . Sarcophagid larvae were found in all of the bogs sampled, and were a pparently unaffected by transplant. Desiccation during the transplant process, as well as the time of the transplant, may play a role in the success of recolonization of the pitcher plants after transplanting.