Tag: colorado insects

Sorting Some Sweep Net Samples

On By Erik OstrumIn Collecting Outings, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Today I finished sorting a couple sweep samples I took in my neighborhood park. After each sweep session I empty the contents into a gallon zip-lock bag. This time I only had two bags worth of material but it still took me two days to sort through.

Here was bag one

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And here is bag two

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I sorted the specimens into separate petri dishes. One was for the large specimens for regular pinning and one for all the specimens that need to be pointed. I also pinned the flies using minuten pins.

Here are all the large specimens. I nice male Melanoplus bivittatus, a few weevils and some beautiful Cassida rubiginosa are some of my favorites from the large insects.

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There were a decent variety of fly species in the samples. A couple highlights of this batch includes Tephritidae, Syrphidae and Asilidae (the small robber flies at the bottom).

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There were some awesome specimens that I found that were placed in the pointing pile. A decent amount of Cicadellidae (and decent variety), which I was hoping for, plus some awesome tiny parasitic wasp families that I haven’t ID’ed yet.

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First Collection of the Pitfall Traps

On By Erik OstrumIn Collecting Outings, Uncategorized, Working on the Collection3 Comments

I went out and was able to collect the first samples from the pitfall traps I put out. Because of work travel they were left out for 2 weeks, which I think I will continue the rest of the season.

There was a cold and wet spell during one of the weeks that lasted almost the entire week so I was worried about the state of the traps but luckily I worried for nothing. Despite this the traps still had good production.

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I was pleased to find a few tiger beetles in a couple traps which I was hoping for. At first glance I feel I had a decent amount of beetle variety.

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Some more beetles and some grasshoppers graced me in these couple traps. I was surprised by the number of grasshoppers captured in the traps.

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This is the accumulation of all 12 traps, as you can see a large amount of ants (mostly from 2 traps) are present along with a good amount of grasshoppers and beetles. I can’t wait to sort through everything. Right now they are in storage as I’ll go through them this winter along with all the other pitfall samples I collect.

Damselflies During Lunch

On By Erik OstrumIn Uncategorized, Working on the CollectionLeave a comment

This year one of my pet projects is expanding the Odonata section of my collection. This is yet another group that’s severely lacking but I’m hoping will take great strides this year. The other week at work I was on my normal lunch walk when I noticed quite a large number of damselflies were out so I decided to take a handful.

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I was able to get specimens (both male and female) of Ischnura damula (plains forktail). Here you can see they are all already in their envelopes. I’ll make a post sometime in the future on the process of preserving Odonates.

Weekend Collecting (6/7-April-2019)

On By Erik OstrumIn Collecting Outings, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’m not writing as much on the blog as I hoped I was, but I’m trying to change that and start catching up on some things. With the weather turning to spring the insects are starting to come out in full force. This post is a catch of the first real collecting outings of the season.

Day 1:

The first day of collecting (6-April) turned into a relatively good day. I got out maybe a little to early and it was still quite cool and very little insect activity.

This female oil beetle (Meloe sp.) was the first insect I saw. As you can see the right elytra was a little wonky so I decided to let her go on her way.

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It finally started to warm up and the insect activity finally begun to pick up….after about 2 hours in the field already. It was shortly after this that I finally saw the first butterflies of the day. They were staying close to the stream flying back and forth. It took a few tries but I finally netted a mourning cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) as it basked on a rock sticking out of the creek.

I decided to keep it for the collection since it was the first butterfly I collected for the season and also for some strange reason I didn’t have any specimens from this location, but now I do.

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I was pretty happy to see some of the first wild flowers blooming because with them blooming I had a chance some early spring visitors. About half a dozen of these Andrena sp. were taking full advantage of the flowers and were quite busy bees. I also decided to collect one so I could get a proper ID plus I’m sure I didn’t have this species yet in the collection.

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What made the day end on an even higher note were the numerous tiger beetles out and about. I was able to collecting some of both species that were present that day.

Cicindela purperea audubonii

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Cicindela limbalis

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All in all I was extremely pleased with how the day ended up and was happy with the insects I was able to collect. Below is a little overview of what I collected.

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Day 2:

I went back to the same general area on the second day (7-April) but just a few miles down the road. The main collecting I did that day was ants and was able to collect a decent amount. Of course other insects were out as well and I definitely collected some of them as well. I didn’t take as many photos though (focusing hard on the ants) but I made sure to get a couple.

The most common things flying were the grasshoppers, specifically Arphia conspersa and I decided to collect a few and also managed to get a picture of one. All the individuals at this location were yellow-winged.

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One of my favorite finds of the day happened while I was on my way out. I decided to flip over a log cause well…you never know. I was greeted by this beautiful Eleodes sp. I had a hard time photographing it cause it wouldn’t stop moving around.

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I was also able to collect a couple Polygonia gracilis (hoary comma) which were flying next to the creek. I also collected a few other beetles, a couple Hymenopterans and a single cool looking Hemipteran of which I’m not sure on the genus or species.

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These are all now pinned and dried and in the storage box waiting for their labels, which I won’t do until next winter when the collecting season is over. It was a good start and I have a feeling it’s going to be a good collecting year.