BIOBus Demonstration

Posted on August 8, 2012 by BIObus Crew

This week the BIOBus is in Waterton Lakes National Park, which is home to a diverse array of habitats and insects. People in our campground have been curious about our vibrantly decorated bus, and today we got a chance to talk about what we do. The park invited us to setup a display, so we pulled out some of the traps we use for demonstration (malaise, intercept, bucket and night sheet), along with a sample of insects we’ve collected so far. Our display seemed to attract a lot of attention, and we got a chance to talk to many interested people in the park. It was nice to see that so many people were interested in what we do, and some of the kids seemed excited when they heard that you can actually find a job as a bug catcher. One boy in particular told us that he could stay looking at our insect collection forever, and that we have the coolest jobs he’s heard of!

Blog Post 22_Aug 8_Photo 1 — Talking to the public about life on the BIOBus

– Jen

Weird Caterpillars

Posted on August 2, 2012August 8, 2012 by BIObus Crew

One of the many interesting insects we’ve been coming across lately might look a lot like a caterpillar but it actually belongs to the same order as ants, bees and wasps (Hymenoptera). This cute little guy is a sawfly, called so because of the female’s practice of using her saw-like ovipositor to deposit eggs in the edges of leaves and stems. When the eggs hatch a multitude of tiny larvae emerge and feast on the surrounding plant foliage.

Blog Post 21_Aug 2_Photo 1 — Not a caterpillar; a larval sawfly posing for the camera

So how can you tell if you have a caterpillar or a sawfly larva? There are a few features you can look for right away: sawfly larvae are hairless and always have more than five prolegs, as opposed to moth and butterfly larvae which always have five or less. They also have a more distinctly rounded head capsule and a single eye spot, giving them a strangely innocent appearance. Sawfly larvae also come in a variety of colours and patterns from pink to bright green to pale yellow.

Adult sawflies look very similar to wasps but have a thick attachment between their thorax and abdomen instead of the thin wasp waist seen in ants and wasps. So next time you see a caterpillar or wasp take a closer look (maybe not too close) because you might actually be looking at a sawfly.

-Jon

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