The first day in the field

Today was a full day of training on field research techniques. After breakfast we had a crash course on caterpillar families ensuring safety for collection identifying those caterpillars that were poisonous (2) and those with body armour for protection (4). Once in the field, we traveled along the edge of the road to search for specimens to take back to the lab for curating. While searching through the vegetation, we were shown the prevelance of poison ivy.

Hopefully I come back safely.

After lunch we randomly chose a research plot where we had to hack through the brambles and set up a 10m x 10m sample site. Each team member had specific responsibilities: hunt for caterpillars, identify caterpillars, indentify trees, and count leaf cover. For each caterpillar collected, we had to label date, family, host plant, metamorphic stage, and plot site. Site analysis today took three hours to collect data. Hopefully as the week progresses, we will become more effiicient in collecting data.

I am posting three specimen samples tonight. It is your task to identify the specimens.