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Finishing Up Our Work in the Lab |
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By spyork on
10/27/2006 1:42 PM
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I can hardly believe our expedition is ending! We've had a very fruitful week, learned a lot , and made many new friends (in the human and insect worlds). Today we worked together to coordinate all of our web pages and had a "wrap-up" of sorts with Dr. Dyer. Being in a university setting like this is exciting. We've met a number of other research scientists here that have told us about their various projects around the world. I hope to look into other opportunities to go on other study expeditions.
In response to your question, Philipp, I am not bringing back any butterflies. If I am not stopped at the airport, I will try and bring back a caterpillar- a wooly bear caterpillar. I am told that this kind of caterpillar is a "generalist", that is, it eats a variety of plant food. If a caterpillar only eats one kind of specific plant, it is called a "specialist". Which kind of caterpillar, generalist or specialist, do you think has a better chance of survival if weateher c ...
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Measuring Caterpillars |
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By spyork on
10/26/2006 1:19 PM
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In the morning, Meg and I "cooked" up a few batches of caterpillar "food". We carefully measured out the ingredients for 3 different recipes before heating them up in beakers, then letting them harden in the refrigerator. Angela, a doctoral student here has created a project to determine how diet affects caterpillar's immune systems .Each batch of food has variable levels of toxins. She is trying to find out how much "energy" the caterpillars use to ward off pathogens, such as disease, or "invasions", such as when parasitoids deposit eggs inside of them. For this later part of her experiment, she is depositting fake silicone parasitoid "eggs' in the caterpillars. After 24 hours, she disects them and looks for evidence of their immune response. In addition to making the food, we also worked in the lab measuring the caterpillars body weight. First we measured the weight of a plastic cup, then measured the weight ...
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Finishing up in the Lab |
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By spyork on
10/25/2006 4:44 PM
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We spent much of the day collecting more caterpillars. We drove through St. Bernard's Parish- quite a shock, considering it's been more than a year since the hurricane. Thousand of homes still remain uninhabitable. In this section of town you can see the water mark on many of the homes where they sat in water for more than 2 weeks. Most of the homes also have a spray painted identification on them- remnant from when rescuers came in and searched the homes for inhabitants- human and animal, and whether or not they had survived. It's very humbling seeing all of this.
At our first "plot" area, we found just what we were looking for! We collected more than 50 "Automeris io" caterpillars from the Saturnidae family. They were in various stages of their development, and we sorted them accordingly. Most caterpillars go through several stages, called "in-star" stages. As they eat and grow, they shed their exoskeletons five (sometimes more) times. The ones we collected today whi ...
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Honey Island Swamp |
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By spyork on
10/24/2006 5:36 PM
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We spent much of the day in Honey Island Swamp, a part of the Pearl River Wildlife area, about a 45 minute drive from the university. Grant Gentry, a senior research fellow here, was our tour guide and showed us how he colleccts caterpillar samples to bring back to their laboratory to study. Another undergraduate student, Brittany, came with us, too. She would "mark" the 10 meter by 10 meter area that Grant wanted us to look in, and we would set about searching. We had to look so carefully, because they didn't want to be found. Many of them wrapped themselves up in a leaf. Some of them blended into the leaves they were munching on. You have to have a lot of patience looking for these elusive creatures. We put the caterpillars we found into plastic bags along with plenty of plant material for them to eat during their stay in the labs for "rearing". By days end we had collected more than 50 caterpillars! Tomorrow we'll have another adventure in a different area of New Orleans. ...
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Tulane University |
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By spyork on
10/23/2006 5:54 PM
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I am happy to be finally here at Tulane! I spent today traveling to Pascagoula, Mississippi. Another Earthwatch team member, Mike April,and I visited Cherokee Elementary school that was hard hit by Hurricane Katrina. It is astonishing to witness the devastation it caused. A year later, there are still huge sections of the cities and towns that have been destroyed or wiped out completely. We traveled down stretches of road, mile after mile, with only concrete slabs and piles of rubble, as witness to former living. Nonetheless, most of the people we've met are very upbeat. As one man we met explained, "We're all in this together. It kinda makes more sense to face each day with hope, rather than without it."
We've just had our "briefing". Dr. Lee Dyer, the chief scientist on this Earthwatch project gave us a tour of the labs that we will be working in here at Tulane University, and gave us a mini lecture on the incredible work that he and several teams in Ecuado ...
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Early Morning, Did I forget anything? |
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By spyork on
10/21/2006 6:14 AM
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Well, if I did forget anything, I'll have to do with out it, or find another solution! By the end of the day yesterday, my students and I counted 28 newly hatched painted lady butterflies. I probably should have phoned Dr. Dyer, the scientist that our team will be working with at Tulane University, to ask him how to care for them - perhaps I will later today or tomorrow. I am hopeful that the children will be able to release the butterflies on Monday or Tuesday. I am especially curious as to whether or not they will lay eggs, since I was not able to find their favorite host plant, malva. I wonder if they like verbena or calendula, plants that are inside the habitat.
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The Birth of Our Painted Lady Butterflies!!! |
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By spyork on
10/20/2006 8:05 AM
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Our butterflies are emerging!! With a warm afternoon yesterday, our butterflies began their journey from chrysalis to butterfly! We watched several of them, as they worked their way through their birth. Some took their time, waiting until they were ready to pump blood through their wings. We are scrambling to figure out how to keep them nourished and alive before we release them. We searched, in vain, for a malva plant (common mallow), so that they could continue their life cycle and lay eggs before their release. I am still (unsuccesfully) trying to post pictures on this blog site. Maybe later today.....
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Our School Butterfly Habitat |
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By spyork on
10/17/2006 8:16 AM
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We've been witnessing, first hand, the butterfly Life Cycle. Our painted lady butterflies are getting ready to emerge! We ordered the larvae from Insectlore, and crafted, with the help of a couple of moms, a very cool habitat out of a wooden garage shelf. When all of the caterpillars had formed their chryslises, we attached them to the top of the habitat with some gorilla tape.
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