Insect diversity @ McGill
Stories about our collection of three million unique little volumes of biodiversity, the people who build and use it, and the research we do. And the odd rumination upon the nature of science and scientists.
All content copyright Terry A. Wheeler 2011-2013, unless otherwise noted.
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Tag Archives: fieldwork
Looking back and looking forward
It was another busy year in the Lyman lab. As in any active lab, students come and go every year. Chris Borkent defended his Ph.D. on the systematics of some mycetophilid fungus gnats this year, and is off in Sacramento, … Continue reading
On passion
Why do we do what we do? Why do I look at flies? Why do I spend what should be my vacation time doing exactly what I do the rest of the summer — playing with insects? Why do I … Continue reading
Stupidity is the mother of invention
Warning: the following post contains content that makes a university professor and museum director look a bit ridiculous. Readers who wish to cling to the fiction that University Professors are smart, infallible and wise may find this post unsettling. “Do … Continue reading
Summer break?
The blog has been somewhat dormant this month (abject apologies to my 13 followers), but I have not. Between the end of June and the middle of August I will have crossed the continent multiple times – Montreal – Alberta … Continue reading
Posted in Lab and Field News
Tagged collecting, conferences, fieldwork, science culture
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The joy of fieldwork
I’m in the field for three weeks of chasing insects. A week in central Alberta and then off to the southern Yukon Territory. This trip is aimed at grassland flies, so it’s a little bit of a change from my … Continue reading
Deep time at Carver’s Gap
I was in the mountains of North Carolina earlier this month for a short bout of fieldwork. It wasn’t my first time in those mountains – I’ve hiked there in the past, and collected insects on multiple trips, but it was … Continue reading
Low tech science II: a simple pooter
One of the great things about entomology is that it’s a low cost pursuit. A few household items or discount store purchases can help you get started in the field. In the first installment of this series I talked about a … Continue reading
What’s in your field bag?
Almost every field biologist carries a bag into the field, although the contents differ wildly from person to person. Here’s what I took along every day for casual collecting while I was in arctic Canada last summer (trap servicing days … Continue reading
Low tech science: tale of a trunk trap
As the spring insect collecting season gears up I decided to sing the praises of one of our favorite low-tech, low-cost collecting methods – the Trunk Trap (or as we call it in the lab – the “Eleanor Trunk Trap”). … Continue reading
My favorite collecting spots. Part 3
Not all special places are far away. The final entry in my Earth Day weekend list of special collecting spots is only a few minutes from my office at the west end of Montreal Island. Stoneycroft Wildlife Area, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec. … Continue reading
