We Will Start Collecting Live Specimens for Our Bug Collecting - Our Family Hobby Insect Collecting
All winter - because the Polar Vortex this year gave Chicago and exceptionally long 6 month season - I've been reading about bug collecting. I've found great blogs by other collectors, real entomologists, and research students and lab techs. The information is consuming!! I can't get enough.
My two convincing main reasons to collect are:
1. "The case for collecting." If your interested read this article for yourself. It explains in good perspective on the sheer volume of insects in the world, and how there is so so so much to still be learned on the subject.
2. As an avid gardener, the 2013 tomato season stunk! Many of my plants didn't produce fruit! This was an issue area wide in Chicagoland, even stories making the news. One big reason is the bee population and the perceived decline. Gardened turn to expert entomologists and bee harvesters to understand the rapid decline in bee pollution.
LIFE IS STILL EXCITING AT OUR HOUSE!
With more insects. . .
AMI Studios Chicago
It's mostly baby girls videos and here slime making, she spends time with friends, goes on road trips, lots of coloring activities and make good choices while having fun. During the covid stay at home orders - she had many many many facetime pandemic playdates - we made time work for us and not be bored.
We Will Start Collecting Live Specimens for Our Bug Collecting - Our Family Hobby Insect Collecting
1. "The case for collecting." If your interested read this article for yourself. It explains in good perspective on the sheer volume of insects in the world, and how there is so so so much to still be learned on the subject.
2. As an avid gardener, the 2013 tomato season stunk! Many of my plants didn't produce fruit! This was an issue area wide in Chicagoland, even stories making the news. One big reason is the bee population and the perceived decline. Gardened turn to expert entomologists and bee harvesters to understand the rapid decline in bee pollution.
This grasshopper was laying her eggs on the corner of the street. We did not collect her. It was early in our collecting days, and then I didn't know that shortly after egg laying, Grasshoppers will die. I could have taken her as a specimen when her task was completed.
This box of bugs was collected during our second season in 2013. I attempted to store the bugs until the end of the season to sort them by Order and print out the labels at the same sitting. This is not recommended. I took extensive amounts of time to sort through all of them, keep the labels in order and then find the insect for said label.
Additional Reasons:
3. The unknown!! Each year national geographic posts an article on new species found that year. Insect hunters, also find new species, and learn countless amount of scientific information from this tiny world. However the information is extensive and there simply aren't enough entomologists to capture everything. So, often private collectors often find new information and pass it along to the experts.
4. Lastly, access. This hobby is completely accessible, to me, my kids, and our family who we engage in it. It's low cost, and I didn't buy any special tools until last year, because I wanted to label our bugs as correctly to the proper way as possible (my detail orientation I guess took over).
Here is my first live big collected: a House Centipede.
Make Mistakes. Breathe, Reflect, and Laugh.Out.Loud
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