[Delphinus]

Well those are some interesting points. Steve, can you point us to some references to this 4-year cycle for wasps? I tried some cursory searches on the net but couldn't come up with anything.

But .. Steve, I'm kind of surprised by your assertion that the last part of August was unseasonably warm for most places in Canada. I thought I had heard exactly the opposite? I.e., for most or at least a lot of parts of the country, August was in fact unseasonably cool (and wetter than normal as well).

FWIW, I never used the term "global warming." I feel that term is a bit anachronistic .. I prefer "climate change." I think the "warming" term refers to the prediction that the average global temperature rising by something like 1 degree, which, sounds almost insignificant ... But if you take into account the different extremes that comprise that average, I think that "change" is just more accurate.

But, of course, it could just be that some wasps hitched a ride on a plane, or a boat or whatever, up to Baffin Island. It's not like human activity / travelling doesn't help the spread of species into new territories, and that of course has nothing to do with climate change (although it does have everything to do with "human activity" impacting the natural order. But like I (tried to) hint at earlier ... as long as there are people travelling about, I think that sort of thing is going to happen regardless.)

cheers