Insect Ecology @ Au Sable - spring 2023

Here is a jpg of our poster, please see the post below for more details about our trip to the Entomological Society of America 2015 conference 

 Andi, Greg and I (Dr. Hoekman) recently attended the Entomological Society of America annual meeting in Minneapolis.  We presented our results from the research we did last summer in a poster session.  They worked really hard to produce a great poster and have also presented their results in some talks on campus.  It was interesting to attend the conference together and Andi and Greg learned a lot about what conferences are like, met a number of scientists and other students and got to tell folks about the project we did. The research and conference costs were covered in part by the NASA Oklahoma Space Grant and the SNU Catalysts group (many thanks!).  Minneapolis in November is not always pleasant for visitors accustomed to Oklahoma weather, but it was very mild and we enjoyed seeing a little bit of the city.

 The spring semester is over and so is the spring insect ecology class.  Fortunately, insect ecology goes on!  Andi and Greg are SNU students who are doing a 6-week NASA-funded research project.  Andi and Greg are both "farm kids" who are comfortable walking through a herd of cows to get to their sampling plots.  We're studying the effects of broadleaf herbicides in hay fields.  To that end we're taking measurements of the soil, plant and insect communities in treated and untreated hay fields.  Though not shown in photos, we also collected soil cores and plant samples.  Insects will be surveyed using pitfall traps and sweep netting.  The previous two photos show Andi and Greg installing some pitfall traps (digging a hole and inserting a plastic cup trap).  Below you can see a metal cover for keeping rain out of a pitfall trap and a flag that will help us find this trap back when we return to collect the sample.   Here is a little more insight into the things

 For our last lab of the year we went out to Dr. Young's property to collect insects with her.  She is an emeritus biology professor and very knowledgeable about the plants and animals of Oklahoma.  Here she is telling us how to extract thrips from flowers.  Aaron was successful in finding several beetles and other insects in rotting logs and soil with this small shovel. The Indian Paintbrush (genus Castilleja ) was brilliant and we spent some time sweep netting in a patch of prairie.  Aaron and Kasey ventured into the water a bit.  Below: Zach and Kasey transferring insects between various jars/vials/nets to start organizing their catch. And one last shot of Dr. Young helping to point out various features of the landscape and where certain insects could be found.  We've very thankful to Dr. Young for the invitation to come and collect at her place.  It was a beautiful day to be outside observing insects together and our collections also benefited considerably.

As we have talked about in class before, the order Coleopteran is the largest and most diverse family in all of the animal kingdom, with this large extent of diversity within the family there are is an array of ecosystems and habitats that coleopterans can survive in, this includes both terrestrial species as well as aquatic species in both larval and adult stages.  Coleopterans that live in these aquatic situations are commonly known as, “water beetles”.  There are estimated to be over twenty four thousands species of beetles, and that’s only in North America! Of those twenty four thousand, roughly one thousand of those coleopterans are aquatic beetles, considering that they live there adult stage aquatically, like other insects a large amount of coleopterans larvae are aquatic yet this doesn’t mean they are “aquatic beetles”.(Voshell)  All water beetles go through complete metamorphosis, as we all should know this means the insect has a larval, pupal, and adult stage in which the in

Chemical Communication When talking about insect communication and chemical signaling, it is important to know the two types of chemical signals: interspecific chemicals and intraspecific chemicals. Interspecific chemical signaling is when different species can communicate to one another, but intraspecific chemical signals only allow communication within a certain species. Intraspecific Intraspecific chemical signaling allows members within a species to communicate to one another as they go about their daily lives. Communication is important in the lives of insects, and there are many different reasons why insects use chemical signals. Intraspecific signals are used for locating members of the opposite sex for mating, giving directions for food, warnings for danger and communicating position. For instance, ants are very well known for their good communication. They use chemical signals to help find food, defend against attackers to their colony and protect and te

Whether you know a lot or very little about insects, you probably do know that insects play a vital role in the world around us. If it were not for insects, many species of plants would die and become extinct. Some animal populations would sky rocket in numbers, and others would plummet.While some insects may just seem like major pests, if it were not for them, our ecosystem would crumble.  As children, we learn in elementary school that insects are very important, for they pollinate plants. Examples of orders that pollinate are Hymenoptera (Honeybees, Wasps, Ants), Diptera (Flies, Mosquitoes) and Lepidoptera (Moths, Butterflies). Since many of these insects feed on nectar from certain plants, they must land on a plant to feed. When a pollinating insect lands on a plant to feed, pollen sticks to their underbelly, then when they go to feed on another plant, the pollen is transferred to the next plant, fertilizing that plant. Therefore, if insects were not around, many plants that ne

Are we friends or foes with the insects that surround us?     Have you ever thought of how insects impact your life? When surrounded with creepy, crawly spiders, are you thinking of how good they are? Or are you trying to bury them all? As crazy as it might seem, every insect on this planet plays an essential role in the ecosystem and some of them even play an essential role within our lives. While there are some very good things about insects, there are also some very bad. Not all bugs are here to help us, yet we still must live in friendship with them… This blog will be discussing both the "good" and the "bad" ways that humans and insects interact on a daily, or possibly even hourly, basis. The GOOD     When thinking of how bugs are “good” for us, what comes to mind? The truth is, many people don’t necessarily know all the different ways that they are beneficial and that is perfectly normal, but that is what we are here for! Insects make food for us