CAMP SESSION 1

Bug Camp Day 1 --SESSION 1, 2013

We began along the Rappahannock River Trail on Monday morning....probably the hottest muggiest day of the summer! Carter, Kyle and Katelyn Boyd along with Sarai Smith set out in search of insects at 9:00 a.m.

Back in the safety of my air conditioned kitchen, Kyle proudly sports his trophy butterfly and at last....a smile!

By 10:30, the gang decided everyone had managed to capture enough insects and we could depart for home. The temperature was hovering around 100 degrees and we needed to get home to rehydrate, snack and share our catches.

Everybody had their own “style” with their nets which yielded some interesting critters.

Roughly 3 minutes down the trail, Kyle spotted a butterfly and plunged headfirst into a grove of wild Cupflowers....in his zest, he failed to remember that “stinging” insects also like flowers and he sustained a pretty hefty sting to the leg! Minor setback....then we plunged ahead.

Carefully captured, our insects were sealed in envelopes....licking the envelopes FIRST was easier than licking them after the bug was placed inside!

All bugged out.....time for a quick photo.....

Bug Camp Day 2

Day 2 was our PINNING BONANZA.....our collected specimens were ready to be pinned out. Everyone arrived refreshed from a good night’s sleep. Kyle prepared for the worst and wore JEANS this time!!

Kat and Katelyn worked together practicing some pinning techniques for tomorrow’s class.

OWwwww...my leg still hurts!!!

Sarai’s little sister stopped by and took a look at her sister’s work.

Carter diligently worked alone to perfect his precision pinning.

Pinning out all of those legs proved to be tedious work!

Sarai used the stereoscope to get a close look at some of her insects.

After an hour and a half of pinning, we decided to take a break and do some more insect hunting! This time, we went to the city’s power line easement behind Rappahannock Avenue where we found more creatures!

Specimens were secured with pins and waxed paper. Each was mounted to a pinning board where they will remain for at least a week in order to dry in the correct position.