Inland dunes, sand plains, blowouts, erosional banks, and other sandy communities are home to hundreds of invertebrate species in the Northeast, some of which (e.g., the Dune Ghost Tiger Beetle, Cicindela lepida) sit at the brink of extirpation in the region. We record 323 species of mostly holometabolous insects from 14 examples of these communities in the Connecticut River Valley of Connecticut and Massachusetts, many of which are open sand specialists. Hymenopterans overwhelmingly dominate these ecosystems ecologically and taxonomically, accounting for greater than 60% of the insect species encountered in this study, and four of the five most diverse families (Carabidae, S=62; Sphecidae, S=49; Formicidae, S=41; Halictidae, S=26, and Pompilidae, S=25). I review the geological origins of the fauna, characterize the taxonomic composition of the fauna, discuss interesting aspects of the trophic relationships exhibited by the entomofauna, and evaluate the conservation status of both the insects and inland sand plains in the Northeast.
Keywords: sand wasps
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