2004 MSU 4-H Entomology Camp

Bugs

Bugs and learning about bugs are what camp is all about. Bugs were everywhere during camp this year. The campers made quite a haul. Some of the stats are shown below.

A new daily reporting system was put in place this year and helped us keep better track on the insects collected. Also, tips on how to collect insects in specific orders helped fill some of the gaps in collections. Dr. Marty Harvill's expertise in aquatic insects helped increased the number of these insects collected. All in all, more insects in more orders were collected and identified than in previous years.

Plymouth Bluff

1,018 total insect in 14 orders were collected during the Plymouth Bluff camp. This was a good haul for the campers, but some of the groups did not report their totals. The total numbers were higher than listed because of this. The Plymouth Bluff Camp did provide several excellent Lepidoptera specimens due to the large numbers of flowers and abundant water sources attracting them.

Something new we did this year was Bug Stories! The campers were asked to invent stories of bugs in different orders and families. Here are the Bug Stories from the Plymouth Bluff camp.

Tombigbee

The Tombigbee Camp was one of the most successful ever in the number of insects collected. Campers collected 1,667 insects in 17 different orders. Of these, 419 ( about 25%) were identified. This is up significantly over the 2002 Tombigbee Camp. As as Plymouth Bluff, the campers imagination went wild on their Bug Stories. Read the Tombigbee Bug Stories for yourself.

Virtual Insect Collection

One of the projects we have been trying to get started is a Virtual Insect Collection page. Check out our start using the Plymouth Bluff insect collection.