Insect Ecology @ Au Sable - spring 2023

 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.