Gavin Campbell

Yes, I have a PhD in entomology.

Yes, I have taught entomology for 18 years on campus and in the field.

No. A field of fireflies will never cease to fill me with childlike wonder.

Now I just know the names by which to greet them.

Bugs That Rule the World | Insect Apocalypse? | Episode 1 Could a world without insects survive? Scientists investigate the global insect “apocalypse.”

www.pbs.org/video/insect... #entomology #insects

And the physics behind it is so cool! Still so much to learn from them

Big yay! They're so agile

Take some time to enjoy something else to take your mind off of it. No matter what, you'll do well and grow after the meeting

That's awesome! Sounds like you'll be back for more in time haha

Beetles and bugs representing! 🥳

Ooh, how was the spelunking experience?

Thumbnail cover image for a YouTube video showing a stonefly and a green june beetle flying, text reads "insect flight - 23 species!"

New video! Flight footage from 23 species across 7 insect orders! youtu.be/gDI5g3rd0Ls

As tiny as the trap is, I still got a lot of specimens. This sampe was mainly comprised of small thief ants

Thankfully all traps were undisturbed when collecting them on Monday

I'm going through the samples now and I got a new species record for my collection and Jamaica overall so I'm super elated 😁

Yep, they definitely have their preferences. It's always so fascinating to see

Surprisingly none. Apart from ants, I've only ever collected fly larvae with the baited traps and those were underground

Ooh! That's awesome to hear! I'm excited to see what shows up

Yep, abundance varied among trees but I have definitely caught ants in each trap. A lot of Camponotus, Crematogaster and Solenopsis when they occur

I believe you're correct there. S. geminata dominated the trial traps by far when underground. Thanks so much for adding to that insight Mike

Photo of a very slender black and yellow wasp in flight, her long legs dangling below her body. The wasp is holding a nearly spherical, shiny brown ball in her mouth and with her forelegs.

A Sceliphron mud dauber wasp carries a glob of mud back to her mud nest, the weight of her load counterbalanced by her unusual petiolate abdomen. Texas.

Thank you Steve

Right now the traps contain detergent in water because I was concerned that the alcohol would be too strong and deter the ants, but as soon as I collect them I replace the detergent with alcohol

Oh whoa, those animals are definitely bigger threats than we have here so I fully understand your concern there

That's awesome. Please keep me updated on this and if you have any questions I'm always happy to talk

They're on the bark of trees, not particularly in tree holes (pictures attached).

There are concerns of mammals, reptiles or birds disturbing the traps, but I worry most about people disturbing them.

I keep my fingers crossed for the two days they're out

It was definitely easier. The type of plastic was also important. I tried it with the plastic for the arboreal traps, but they didn't come out as neat

Love it 😂😂😂

I didn't have a drill so I fired up my hot glue gun to make the holes. I was pleasantly surprised that they came out so nearly circular

As am I! I put out some trial ones last week and the fire ant Solenopsis geminata absolutely dominated, so I'm just hoping to get some more variation with these official ones

The last trap had some visitors before I even left the site which is always great to see

I worry about these ones because they're at risk of being disturbed by people, so I deploy them on the weekend when there are fewer people around

These are the arboreal traps taped to trees and secured with thumb tacks. The bait is in the lid of the jar

Arrangement of rocks

Arrangement of sticks in the shape of an "X"

Arrangement of stick, rocks and plant pod

Arrangement of plant and stick

I use whatever is around to make an arrangement over the trap so I can locate it in 2 days

It doesn't have to be fancy, it just has to be recognizable.

I'm looking forward to some new species I've never collected before so keep your fingers crossed

After digging, the tube (with a preservative) is gently placed in the hole and covered with soil

This morning I put out some baited traps to collect ants underground and in trees.

For the underground traps I use these microcentrifuge tubes with neat holes at the top and bait in the lid

The bait is a delicious mixture of peanut butter, sardines and honey