Okay, I know this was lame, but for those of you who were expecting to see the newest issue of Berry Go Round today, all I can say is sometimes life/work gets in the way. BGR #21 should be up in the next day or so – in the meantime I’ll let you puzzle and speculate as to what I am actually doing in this photograph.
Copyright © Ted C. MacRae 2009
Beetles In The Bush 
Sir Ted
Greetings from Pullman, Wa.; It is fun to read about your exploits and despite envy being the deadly sin I am envious of your collecting safari’s! The diversity at least for visual species in your area much better than running litter through berlese funnels looking for tha species new to Science here in the PNW. Caurinus dectes story developing!
Entomologist’s do exam green leafy things for damage-flea beetles, thrips and white flies come to mind. Pots indicate transplanting or discarding! Clip board with paper dictates data! What is science without data, graphs, ANOVA’s and annual reports!
I’m always open to a shipment of Staph’s with data!
I’m sending a Bup picture via email.
r
Hi Rod – well, the grass is always greener… There are so many species in your area that I dream about seeing someday, but distance and competition from less distant and more speciose areas make it a low probability.
Data, graphs, ANOVAs and annual reports – you’re on the right track!
Is that a recent photo? Everything looks so much greener than it does in Iowa right now. As to what you are doing, I would imagine you are evaluating pest damage of some sort.
Photo taken several weeks ago (early September), and yep – evaluating pest damage. But of what sort? 🙂
Well, you are examining leaves and not roots, so that counts out any larvae. Mabye grasshoppers or Japanese beetles?
Wrong orders 🙂
Does it really count out larvae?
Crop?
Okay, I’ll fess up. The crop is soybean, and I’m rating damage by defoliating lepidopterans. You’ll note the frame structure with a screen covering? The crop is enclosed inside a giant “screenhouse” into which we have liberated adult moths, allowing them to oviposit naturally on the crop and simulate a heavy field infestation.
A great job (better than most others I can think of). Still, I think beetle taxonomy is much more interesting!
Oh, you’re silly! Of course, no one needs proof that you’re outstanding in your field (or out standing there in a field of a monoculture, either). Everyone knows you’re the best there is (and that you do your own fieldwork…). You’re funny.
Lame, silly, I guess they’re the same thing.
Monocultures are boring!