Lockdown still, but collaborators at local site that manage research reserve kindly agreed to collect native seeds.


Lockdown still, but collaborators at local site that manage research reserve kindly agreed to collect native seeds.
This fall I have been processing the insects and pollen samples that I collected this spring from my fieldwork in the Mojave Desert. The insects were primarily caught using pantraps, and were transferred into 90% isopropyl alcohol for preservation. With the help of our lab’s two undergraduate practicum students, Shobika and Shima, we are gradually getting them nicely organized into collection boxes.
I pinned many, many bees and wasps when I worked on a pollinator census during my undergrad in West Hamilton. These are the steps I use for processing insect samples:
I have also been mounting pollen samples whenever I can squeeze the time in. I collected stigmas from the field and have been storing them in ethanol-filled small tubes.
Process:
For a different experiment that I have not yet processed, I will put the tubes into a centrifuge, spin down and pipette out the pellet to save time and labour. Quite a few tubes from the current experiment are extremely small and I am concerned about their ability to hold up under the force of a centrifuge. I need a less labour intensive process to make slides for my upcoming field season. I can think of two main options right now – use sturdy tubes that I can centrifuge, or collect into small tubes without adding ethanol, and mount each evening while at the research station. This will cut down the need to let the alcohol evaporate.