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National Moth Week
My blogging has been delinquent – I never got around to talking about National Moth Week last week! The very first National Moth Week was July 23-29, celebrated by gatherings all over the country. This...
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Entomophagy – Insect Banquet!
This is the last week of field entomology – I can’t believe how fast it has gone by! You can check out my curriculum at the course website (though the materials are password protected). Just about...
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Brigette turns 24
Starting to feel like a grown-up! I think I’m going to cook myself some plantain pancakes for breakfast, smothered in maple syrup. Sort of paleo. And then go into the lab to feed my caterpillars, and...
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It’s over
Earlier this week I submitted the final grades for field entomology, and yesterday I got paid – hurray! Part of me is sad the experience is over, but I’m excited for the fall semester to start. Being...
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Word of the day: laterostigmatal
(The word of the day is taken from the Torre Bueno Glossary of Entomology… usually related to lepidoptera in some way). laterostigmatal, of or pertaining to the side, immediately above the spiracle I...
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And a new adventure begins
Classes started this week – how did that happen so fast?? I am the TA for general entomology. Somehow ended up with four students from field entomology (you mean I didn’t scare them off?), which means...
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Great Mountain Forest
Last weekend we took the general entomology class to the Yale Camp at the Great Mountain Forest in Norfolk, CT. We joined up with the general entomology class from Yale. Dave likes to plan this trip...
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The shaking caterpillar
Harrisimemna trisignata is an unusual animal. It has so many bizarre adaptations it’s difficult to know where to start. So, I’ll start with some pictures and a video, then give my thoughts. It is in...
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For science!
Here I am with some caterpillars (Acronicta impleta)… that I am about to start testing for chemical defenses by rubbing them on my arm. From a few reactions I’ve had, it seems there is one clade within...
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I warned you
Aaaand we’re off – to see if some of my caterpillars are chemically protected. This is my arm right now: I’m about to go rub some caterpillars on another lab member. (It’s ok, we’ve filled out the...
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Life
Life and priorities… I have so many fun/wonderful/buggy things to share, but it’s hard to find time for blogging right now. I’ve stopped sewing. I haven’t been on twitter in who-knows-how-long. I’ve...
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Better than Christmas
I came home tonight to find this at my door: I could hardly contain my excitement – the box was holding my order from Bioquip, the entomological supply company! Last year I received a small grant to...
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Zombies are cool, right?
I bought this shirt from EscapePod on Etsy. It’s what all the cool entomologists are wearing these days, featuring an ant infected with the cordyceps fungus. Basically, the fungus controls the behavior...
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Escaping the pupal shell
Life is getting more exciting here in the Wagner lab – moths are emerging! Every year we raise hundreds and hundreds of caterpillars for various projects. I am only directly involved in rearing my own...
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Digital dissections
Someone passed along this link to me, and I think it is brilliant! The University at Buffalo has some digital dissections on their website, labeled and unlabeled. Here is the grasshopper: They have a...
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Word of the day: Panic
Not really! But… well… yeah really. Tomorrow is our department’s Graduate Student Symposium, where we volunteer to present in front of our peers/professors/family/random people who wander in. The talks...
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A caterpillar!
Winter is a slow time for caterpillar news in the Northeast. Most lepidopterans overwinter as eggs or pupae, and any overwintering caterpillars are usually hiding in the leaf litter. As a child I never...
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Winter caterpillars
Ok, I lied a little bit. Sometimes caterpillars come out in the winter. If you live in the US or Canada and see a fat brown caterpillar sauntering across the snow, it is probably Noctua pronuba, the...
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More winter insects
Continuing the theme of “ok, some insects do come out during the winter”, a couple weeks ago our lab conducted our yearly boreid hunt. Once again, we achieved success! Boreids are the winter...
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The Etymology of Entomology
You have four days left to listen to this fun program on BBC Radio 4. It is 30 minutes about naming insects, led by Dr. George McGavin, including interviews with several entomologists, even a member of...
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