Field Entomology

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May Session 2010

Course number: EEB 4252
Dates: May 10- May 28
Day/time: MTWThF, 1pm-4pm
Place: Storrs campus, Torrey Life Sciences Room 313
Credits: 3 (open to majors and non-majors)
Instructor: Roberta Engel
E-mail: roberta.engel@uconn.edu

Have fun collecting insects and earn credits at the same time!
This course is an introduction to insect collecting, identification, and ecology. We will learn about the local insect fauna through numerous field trips and practice specimen inventory methods in the lab. Lectures will cover all major orders of insects and focus on various aspects of their ecology, behavior, and evolution. Throughout the term, students will collect specimens for the University research and teaching collections, and for their personal reference collection.


FIELD NOTEBOOK

Field Notebook, each entry should include the following:
Date: day-month-year, example: 10 V 2010
Time of day: 24-hour clock, example: 1pm = 1300
Location: country/state/county/town
GPS lat/long decimal degrees (note source of lat/long, esp. if added later)
Elevation
Directions to locality so that another could return to the site
Weather (temp., precip., wind, cloud cover, etc.)
Site description, where found insect and habitat in the immediate area
Sketches: site, insect, maps
Observations, list what collected (name or describe and add name later), number of specimens, who was present


Online Resources for taking Field Notes
MVZ
http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Why_Collections.html
http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Locality_Documentation.html

Sheldon Greaves
http://www.sas.org/tcs/weeklyIssues/2004-04-16/features1/index.html


CLASS LECTURE & ASSIGNMENTS

Date Lecture Assignment Assignment Due Date Quiz
M 10 May Insect Orders
Field Exercise 1 May 11 ---
T 11 May Families: Hemipteran
Reading 1
On taking field notes, J.V. Remsen, Jr
May 12 Quiz 1: Insect Orders
W 12 May Families: Odonata
External Morphology
Field Exercise 2 May 17 Quiz 2: Hemipteran Families & Insect Orders
TH 13 May Morphology- mouthparts Reading 2 May 17 Quiz 3: CT Orders and External Morphology
F 14 May Families: Orthoptera
Quiz 4: and mouthparts
M 17 May Families: Dermaptera, Mecoptera, Megaloptera, Neuroptera, Coleoptera Reading 3; FIELD NOTEBOOK May 19 ---
T 18 May Families: Coleoptera, cont. Field Exercise 3 May 21 Quiz 5: Families: Dermaptera, Mecoptera, Megaloptera, Neuroptera, Coleoptera
W 19 May curation, visit UConn Collections Reading 4 May 21 Quiz 6: Families: Coleoptera
TH 20 May Families: Hymenoptera Quiz 7: Orthopteran Families, Hemipteran Families, external morpholgy
F 21 May Families: Diptera Field Exercise 4; COLLECT & CURATE FE4 due May 24 Quiz 8: Families: Hymenoptera
M 24 May Families: Lepidoptera & Trichoptera Reading 5 May 26 ---
T 25 May Field Execise 5 May 27 Quiz 9: Diptera & Lepidoptera
W 26 May Reading 6 May 28 Quiz 10:
TH 27 May Field Execise 6 May 28 Quiz 11:
F 28 May Lab Practical


IN THE FIELD

LOCALITY HABITATS
the Fenton field, vernal pool, river, woodland
Swan Lake pond
Moss Sanctuary woodland, pond



NOTES

Pdficon small.gifDay2 Hemiptera.pdf
Pdficon small.gifDay5 Orthoptera.pdf
Pdficon small.gifDay 6 Neuroptera, Mecoptera, and more.pdf
Pdficon small.gifDay9 Hymenoptera.pdf
Pdficon small.gifDay10 Diptera.pdf

COLLECTIONS

ORDER FAMILIES
Blattodea Blattidae
Coleoptera Cantharidae, Carabidae, Coccinellidae, Chrysomelidae, Dermestidae, Dytiscidae, Elateridae, Gyrinidae, Lampyridae, Scarabaeidae, Silphidae, Staphylinidae, Tenebrionidae
Collembola
Diptera Culicidae, Tipulidae
Ephemeroptera
Hemiptera Belostomatidae, Cercopidae, Cicadellidae, Coccoidea, Corixidae, Gerridae, Hydrometridae, Nepidae, Notonectidae,
Hymenoptera Apidae, Formicidae
Lepidoptera Lasiocampidae
Mecoptera Panorpidae
Megaloptera Corydalidae
Neuroptera Myrmeleontidae
Odonata Aeshnidae, Coenagrionidae,
Orthoptera Acrididae, Gryllidae, Gryllacrididae, Tetrigidae
Plecoptera
Psocoptera
Thysanoptera
Thysanura
Trichoptera


BIOBLITZ

BIOBLITZ EVENTS LOOKING FOR ENTOMOLOGISTS
June 4-5
CT: Church Farm
We are interested in having a butterfly event, and also are looking for someone to do a moth ID using black light on Friday night. Exhibit material is also welcome. We will be having a Junior BioBlitz Center for hands on demos,exhibits, etc.Please let me know as soon as you can whether you can help out with any of these items for the public. If it would be easier to speak, please call me at 860 228-2849 ( 9-10 AM or late afternoon & evenings are best) Joan Hill

June 12-13
RI: Block Island
sponsor: RINHS
BioBlitz 2010 is going to be held Saturday, June 12 and Sunday, June 13 on the northern end of Block Island. ALL PARTICIPANTS in the June 12 – 13 BioBlitz event MUST BE PRE- REGISTERED and assigned to a team. The orientation, while not mandatory, is strongly recommended. Advance planning is especially important this year as Block Island isn’t just down the street: ferries, parking, and baggage handling add special logistical challenges. Special parking, ferry, and on-island transport provisions are being planned, but you need to know about them. BioBlitz is a program of RINHS. It is sponsored by Roger Williams Park Zoo, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. This year’s local hosts include: Town of New Shoreham, Ocean View Foundation, Bluestone Foundation, Block Island Conservancy, Block Island Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy (Rhode Island Office), US Fish & Wildlife Service, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Audubon Society of Rhode Island, and Interstate Navigation. http://www.rinhs.org/what-we-do/bioblitz/bioblitz2010/

June 13
CT: Hamden
Second Annual Bioblitz in the Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden, CT, on Sunday afternoon, June 13. If any of you live in the area and would like to participate, we'd love to have you. Email me off list (brbeitch@cox.net ) for details.

June 14-15
CT: Stamford
sponsor: Scofield Magnet Middle School
The sixth and seventh grades at Scofield Magnet Middle School in Stamford, CT are conducting a bioblitz on June 15th. The bioblitz will take place on our campus and the adjoining Bartlett Arboretum. The arboretum is approximately 90 acres with woods, a stream, a pond and a red maple swamp. There are some open areas with high grass fields. It is a lovely area to hold a bioblitz. We, also, expect to search for night insects the evening before on June 14th. We are looking for entomologists and other experts or amateur naturalists who would be able to help. On the 15th we will be outside from 8:30 to 12:30. Lunch can be provided for any one who can help. If anyone is interested they could contact Jim Ellsworth for more details.

 Jim Ellsworth
jellsworth@ci.stamford.ct.us
 School 203-977-2750 (day)
 Home 203-938-9579 (evening)

Entomological Societies

CT Butterfly Association
http://ctbutterfly.org/

CT Entomological Society
http://www.insectsingers.com/ces/ces.html

Cambridge Entomological Club
http://www.entclub.org/

ME Entomological Society
http://www.colby.edu/MES/

AMNH listing of entomological societies
http://www.amnh.org/learn/biodiversity_counts/know_more/w_entomsoc.htm