Insect Ecology @ Au Sable - spring 2024

            In recent years, we have become aware of the dangers of pesticide use to us and the environment, and we recognize a need for a change. Pesticides aren't sustainable, with more and more countries imposing strict regulations over their usage, making them less attractive to modern farmers. Pesticide has also became less effective than it used to be, with pests developing tolerances and resistances to it more and more each year. So, a solution gaining following is to use the natural enemies of pests to control their population. Formally named bio-Control, humanity has been meddling in the food chain long enough to know that if we can release the right predators, then our pest problem will be kept in check. There are all kinds of bio-control, but since I am only taking an insect course, this blog will detail only insect to insect bio-control.              The first and familiar type of bio-control is called impor...

Click here to watch a video on Fireflies : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFOmPQWw4Io “A not-so-long time ago, in a sky not-too-far away , the stars were at war with each other, shooting across the firmament, colliding with, hurtling at, and orbiting around one another in a full-fledged fire fight...” Well, that’s how I imagined it in my 9-year-old mind as I surveyed my lightening bug-lit backyard on many a mid-summer’s evenings. Although these tiny insects are slightly less cosmic and otherworldly than I imagined as a child, even a quick glance at the images below instills the aura of extra-terrestrial life forms—what do these all share in common?  Bioluminescence. A phenomenon that surprisingly exists in a variety of organisms of many different taxa on this planet.       Within insects, there are two main forms of bioluminescence, the process of a living organism producing light (as sub-form of chemiluminescence—light emission as a results of che...

      Big Deals in Small Strides                                            -Vannessa Peters                                                                What to do? What to do?           My hand has been smelling like several weeks old crawfish remains for almost an hour now; it's a good thing that beetle was pretty. A smile and laugh got caught up in my emotions because I felt like it was worth it to catch the same beetle twice so that Hayley could have one, too. I remember the times like it was yesterday…                                           ...

There have been many instances when one finds an interesting looking insect, picks it up, and is instantly greeted with a foul smell. Technically, all insects have an odor, but there are several insects that are known for their toxic smell. A couple insects that commonly come to mind are stink bugs (F. Pentatomidae) and lady bugs (F. Coccinellidae). The science behind insect's chemical abilities is quite fascinating, and even though chemical usage might leave behind a foul smell, chemical usage is very important for many insects and their survival.  There are about 200 species of stink bugs in the United States and Canada, and a species that is quite popular is  Halyomorpha halys.  The common name is the brown marmorated stink bug, and it produces a bad smell as both adults and juveniles to discourage predators from eating or attacking it (Shipman, 2019). This odor is produced through the stink bug’s thorax. Within the thorax are special glands that possess a chemic...

Last Monday, June 3, the Au Sable students embarked on their third integration day- a weekly sojourn into the best that interdisciplinary biology and environmental science has to offer. This week brought us to HeartWick Pines State Park, a nearby, beloved forest of locals and tourists alike, and our very own Au Sable oil fields. Although the term "Au Sable Oil Fields" seems as though it produces an inherent contradiction, we would explore throughout the day the influence of anthropogenic activity on natural landscapes and the best perspectives for intentional human management of these spaces. Visitors enjoying the views at HeartWick Pines State Park https://www.michigan.org/property/hartwick-pines-state-park-visitors-center-logging-museum The day began with a narrative of Michigan's logging history. In the 1900's, the logging economy was so booming and extensive that the forests could not sustain the rates of species loss. To some extent, the stumps left fr...