July 18th – Survey updates and bycatch facts

Weekly progress:

We sorted 9 kits last week: K Hunter (Knox), B. Robb (Medina), M. Brennan (Geauga), K. VanDyne (Preble), K. VanDyne (Franklin), L. Lebovitz (Medina), M. Manzo (Cuyahoga), P. Knudson (Butler), J. Kralovic (Summit), and also the rest of the kit by R. Luff (Clinton). That brings us to 128 kits sorted and we are now over 48,000 bees pinned! We only have 12 kits left to sort and then we switch full time to identification.

Bycatch:

Catching up from the past several weeks of guest posts, here are some of the cool things we have seen!

Guess what? This is not an ant! Although it looks very ant like, this is actually a Flat Wasp in the family Bethylidae. These wasps are thought to target beetle larvae. This was collected by M. Brennan.

This is also not an ant! Look closely at how many legs there are. This is our native ant mimicking jumping spider that made the mistake of jumping into one of S. Angel’s bowls.

Since our tiny ruler came in, I have been paying more attention to the small snails in the samples. At under 2 mm (a third the length of a grain of rice), these snails are easily overlooked. They are identified by the number of teeth seen on the inside of the shell, though there are apparently a lot of different species, so even if we get a clear shot of those teeth, it is not a guarantee that we will be able to identify them properly. This Vertigo Snail was from M. Shilling’s kit, but many other kits from the past few weeks also had a few of these little beasts.

This insect might look like a wasp, but it is actually a wood soldier fly in the family Xylomyidae! These flies are typically found near woodlands and the larvae are thought to live under bark where they are either predatory or eat fungi. This was collected by J. Kutzley

Guess that structure:

It has been a while since I have quizzed you all on a mystery structure. So, can you guess what the structure is in the image below? Bonus points if you can identify the correct Order and/or Family.

What could this be? I’ll give you a hint: it is part of an insect 😉

All for now,

MaLisa

6 thoughts on “July 18th – Survey updates and bycatch facts”

Thank you MaLisa and gang! I will say I miss my weekly research activities os last year although it would be a it more challenging this year with all the rain!
If you need help on upcoming projects I’m sure you’re Team is ready, willing and eager!

The spider in this post looks to be an adult male of Synemosyna formica. This spider not only looks a lot like an ant, it behaves a lot like an ant. Walking with an ant-like gait, and waving it’s front legs in a way that resembles an ant tasting the air with her antennae.

My guess for the structure is part of a leg or spine? … maybe on the leg of an orthopteran, Acrididae? (pretty wild guess)