Field Zoology Week 4: All the above and none

Our penultimate lab and probably our slowest. We went out on Monday night and set up small mammal traps, a Malaise trap for flying insects, and pitfalls for terrestrial species.

We captured a sub-adult Peromyscus leucopus within a few minutes of setting out the Sherman traps. That what cool. I also kicked up five Ruffed Grouse that were probably snacking on blueberries. Herp-wise we found a Red-spotted Newt.

On Tuesday we returned and heard Red-eyed Vireos on the way out to the site. Other birds that were observed or heard were

Turkey Vulture
Blue Jay
Eastern Wood Pewee (voice)
Black-throated Green Warbler (voice)
Common Yellowthroat

No mammals were in the traps on the second day.

Other herps that were found were a few Red-backed Salamanders.

No snakes or turtles this semester! Booooo.

We did sweep net sampling for invertebrates that we found in the herbaceous (weeds) layer.

The orders were sorted into

Hemiptera (most abundant)
Hymenoptera (next abundant)
Aranae (next abundant)
Orthoptera
Diptera
Lepidoptera
Coleoptera
Molluska

STUDENTS SHOULD KNOW WHAT THOSE ORGANISMS ARE

I gave a quick lecture in the field on populations including

- defining what are vital rates (births, deaths, immigration, emigration)
- on the use of population indices
- how to estimate populations using density
- using capture-mark-recapture techniques
- when to use a population census

I also went over invasive insects that have shaped forests of the US including

Gypsy Moth
Emerald Ash Borer
Asian Longhorn Beetle
Wooly Aldelgid

Identify to order

Identify to order