Day 4 August 8, 2009

This morning I set my cellphone alarm to go off at 6:00am. When it rang, I thought I'd like to sleep another 30 minutes. So I reset the alarm, dozed off, and awoke to a bright sunlight... and the alarm didn't ring. So I jumped up and saw the time of 6:52am. Lee said he would pick us up for breakfast at 7 am. I knocked quickly on Aimee's door and told her the time, but she said it was only 5:52 am. She said AZ and CA have the same time. I didn't understand until later when Lee told me that my cell phone is picking up from a tower in New Mexico, which is about 8-10 miles to our east. So I've actually been awake since 5:42. I think I'll be ready for sleep by the time the sun goes down.

After a wonderful, filling breakfast, we were given about an hour to ourselves until our "jobs" began. Some of us were assigned to the lab, some to collect a "general collection" with Dave Wagner, and some to collect for Lee which involves counting leaves on the tree/bush. So collecting for Dave is much easier because you can just "beat the bush", place your findings in a bag, and off you go to another tree/bush. Suoko, Jared, and I were assigned to collect for Lee. But we had reinforcements: Mike Singer, professor at Wesleyan College in CT who is very knowledgeable in plant identification as well as caterpillar, was our lead guide. He was very easy going and helped us improve in our techniques of collecting.

Dave Wagner and his group collected in the general area that we were in. But when plants or caterpillars challenged Mike, he called the "pro" which is Dave. He is the premier expert of the United States because of his book, "Caterpillars of Eastern North America: a Guide to Identification and Natural History". I've mentioned his book in previous blogs, but I didn't know the proper title. We understand this book is the most used selection by scientists in North America. So we are very fortunate to be in his company. He is very dedicated to his work and is beginning to collect specimens for a new book on western caterpillars. I would imagine it will take years to gather information and publish it because he is so meticulous. I know I'll purchase this book for my personal and professional library.

In the afternoon, Angela who is a post-doctoral student in CT, drove the entire group to the campground where she and Lee are staying to collect. We were not as successful as this morning. But nonetheless, we found a few caterpillars. Our work this afternoon involved digging underneath oak trees because ants eat the "fras" of caterpillars (fras is feces). Caterpillars sometimes hide during the day in the moist soil under the canopy of oaks. We were not successful at all. The only thing I "collected" was an army of ants all over me!!! Before I knew it, black ants, who also like to bite were up my legs, on my shoulders and even inside my pants legs. So I did some very quick hopping and dancing while Judy tried to swat them off. I thought I would literally have to take my pants off. Fortunately for all, I was able to rid myself of them in a short time. This would be very amusing.

Time to close for the evening. Stay tuned!