First Collection of the Pitfall Traps

On June 1, 2019 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.

Miami Trip #1 (May)

On May 13, 2019 By Erik OstrumIn Collecting Outings, Uncategorized, Working on the CollectionLeave a comment

I just got back from a week long trip to Miami. Unfortunately it was for work and not a collecting trip……that didn’t stop me from collecting when I could though.

One of my favorite finds (as I only see them when I travel to the southeast) was the eastern lubber grasshopper (Romalea microptera). There was a large group of nymphs and adults at one of the collecting site for work so I grabbed a few.

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Another awesome find were large number of click beetles that do something that most people probably would never think click beetles do….glow. I believe all the ones I saw and collected are Ignelater havaniensis which are only found in southern Florida (in the US at least).

Check out that glow!

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I didn’t get a whole bunch of pictures of the live insects (work and all) but I did manage to collect a decent number of specimens considering how little time I had.

I was able to get a decent number of butterflies (thanks in part for the pocket net now bring on trips)….my favorite that I collected this trip is Heliconius charithonia (zebra longwing)..these are the first specimens I’ve been able to collect and I’m super happy to finally have netted a few. The Anartia jatrophae (white peacock) you see is a bit beat up but I didn’t have that species in the collection yet either so I decided to keep it.

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Here is everything else I collected

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In the picture below you can see a white colored weevil which I have never seen before, I can’t to figure out the species on all of these!

In this next picture you have see the lubbers as well as the click beetles as they were all collected at the same site.

This last picture is all the small insects that I have left which all require points. I started already and actually just finished everything before I wrote this post. Most of it is ants and small wasps.

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I’m quite thrilled with the insects I managed to collect on this trip and since I’m going to Miami quite a few times this year I should be able to get some more awesome additions to the collection.

Dissosteira carolina (Linnaeus)

On January 14, 2019 By Erik OstrumIn Acrididae, OrthopteraLeave a comment

This is a large common species found throughout much of the lower 48 states. This grasshopper always got my attention since I was a little kid every time I startled one. The black and yellow hind-wing is a startling thing to see when one is not expecting. What I also like about this species is the variety of colors individuals can be. I’ve seen colors from tan to brown to brick red.

This is species is also quick to spit out a brown liquid in defense that can and will stain your fingers. One of the reasons this species is so widespread and common is because it can become quite abundant in disturbed areas and dirt roads, especially where there is bare ground which helps the grasshopper blend in.

As you can see from this spread specimen, the black takes up much of the hind-wing. For the more entomology inclined, when in flight it can look quite similar to Nymphalis antiopa (Mourning Cloak butterfly), which also sports the black and yellow coloration on the wings.

Currently in the collection I have a large number of individuals from a number of different states. Both spread and non-spread specimens are present as well as multiple different colors.

Other online sources:

https://bugguide.net/node/view/14827

http://www.uwyo.edu/entomology/grasshoppers/dica.htm