Eswatini
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CameroonCollecting in nothing but rain
My Ph.D. advisor and I, along with a fellow graduate student and another faculty member, travelled to Cameroon for three full weeks of insect collecting. We started our collection of assassin bugs and other hemipterans at Mount Cameroon for the first half of the trip, followed by Korup National Park. While we knew it was near the start of the rainy season, little did we know that we would experience 18 days of rain. The only time it did not rain was for a brief 30 minute period at Korup National Park. Aside from the rain making it difficult for us to collect our insects, we also experienced minor setbacks with our collecting gear, our truck got stuck in the mud, tiger moths made me develop two severe reactions all over my torso, and a fungal infection ensued on my fresh tattoo. It goes without saying that this trip was pretty challenging, but it was worth it. We managed to collect some interesting species and documented some very intriguing defensive behaviors in my millipede assassin bugs. |
HondurasAt least I earned my ticket home
In grad school, we often joked that you were not allowed to return home until you collected at least one insect relevant to your research. Well…I almost didn't make it back home! My Ph.D. advisor, a postdoc from another lab, and I ventured to several locations in Honduras for three weeks. My target was millipede assassin bugs, and we pulled out all stops to get them: malaise traps, MV and black light traps, pitfall traps, pan traps, sweep netting, and even digging through leaves. Only till our last few days did we manage to get one millipede assassin bug at a light trap. However, we collected plenty of other assassin bugs and other hemipterans, but man was it a kick to have only gotten one specimen relevant to my dissertation. Beautiful country tho! |
South KoreaNot one, but two typhoons
This trip was an opportunity since we were traveling to South Korea for the International Congress of Entomology. We planned on staying one extra week after the conference to collect in an area recommended by our South Korean colleague. Gorgeous village with very friendly residents! We were able to collect several assassins bugs and other hemipterans, including a couple species of millipede assassin bugs, despite the fact we endured very rainy conditions thanks to two typhoons that struck South Korea. It was good down time to work on my Ph.D. dissertation proposal! |
Costa RicaAnd, so it begins…
This was the first time I ever stepped foot in another country. If you've done international traveling, remember how you first felt when you got there? Excited, eager, anxious...all the feels. I went to Costa Rica for a two-week Organization for Tropical Studies course on the Heteroptera. During this time, I learned a lot about different collecting techniques for various heteropteran families, as well as how to identify taxa. I also made some awesome friends during this course, most of whom I am fortunate to see almost yearly at conferences. |