I wanted to share what my part time bug job is like. To the left is my workstation. All the vials have individual specimens in them. The wood racks hold the vials that make up the "catalog".The plastic cup next to the glass bowl holds the sample. These are insects (and some non-insect arthropods like spiders, centipedes, etc) that were collected in a pitfall trap in the woods of Oregon.
Here I am seated and ready to go. I dump the sample into the glass bowl to sort and count the insects using the "catalog" as a reference.
All this work is making me hungry. I take a time out for a quick snack.
Here you can see a sample midway through sorting. The bigger beetles along the top of the towel are from the Family Silphidae, the carrion beetles. That's right, the same beetles I worked with at BYU. The smaller beetles are Carabid beetles and are very common in these samples. You can see there is still plenty left in the bowl. Better get back to work.
A job well done. Now I have all the insects in the two glass vials. I have written the type and numbers of all the insects in the sample. All that's left are miscellaneous parts and pieces that I will dump in the waste jar. Then I am ready to start on a new sample.
All in a day's work.
7 comments:
The pictures and text you show here are fascinating. Thanks for letting me peek in on you at work. What happens to the bugs that are put in the vials on the wooden shelves? Do you sell them to places that want to study them, or something? It seems like they should be alive to study them..... tell me more.
Well, to each their own... I don't know that counting bugs is my cup of tea, but glad you are having fun!
Mmmmm Eating bugs....
That was very informative Darrin. Thank you for sharing.
Awesome!
I was telling Julie what a crummy assignment it was to collect and classify 200 unique bugs in HS Biology (for an A, consequently I got a C).
I'd say getting paid for sorting and classifying them makes all the difference.
That is so cool. How fun to see what you do. That kind of job might "bug" me after a few days but Klora and I liked learning what you do.
How come no one told me you had a blog? I like getting to see you wrist deep in dead crawly things! You look right at home! :)
Dar4in,
I love re-reading this post over and over as I come to see what's new!
How's the new job, home, location, etc?
For thos of us who are communicationally challeneged, perhaps you could republish Lara's emails to the blog so that we can stay up to date.
Cheers to a great summer and fall, now comes the hibernation period for the creepy crawlies.
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