M. ALMA SOLIS: A WORKSHOP ON LEPIDOPTERAN LARVAE IN COSTA RICA

Published on Saturday, 08 October 2016 10:28

In late August Dr. M. Alma Solis, a research entomologist with USDA at the Smithsonian Institution, also a member of the Board of Directors of B.A.B.I., taught at a week long workshop on lepidopteran larvae at EARTH University near Guapiles, Costa Rica.

The university offers an undergraduate program in agricultural sciences & natural resources to students worldwide, including Africa & Asia. It is a beautiful facility over 8000 acres in size. It has classrooms, labs, academic farms, sports & recreational facilities, living accomodations, a commercial banana plantation & a forest reserve (howler monkeys every morning!).

Most of the participants of the workshop were agronomists, not entomologists, by training. It was a great classroom; see attached pics of students, classroom, Kellogg Library, fieldwork. Everyone had a scope and equipment, there was a dedicated person to help with everything in the classroom, and one scope was attached to a large monitor so she could show specific structures to the entire class.

The participants had been collecting larvae since February and during the afternoon they used a key to identify larvae to superfamily or family. The participants also had one field day where they went to field crops & orchards. They also collected larvae at a very small farm designed to feed a family of 4 for a year.

Alma Solis‘ goals were that everyone should be able to tell if they have a Lepidopteran larva, read a setal map, and use a key to identify to superfamily/family, etc. It was successful for a lot of reasons, but to summarize, the final exam resulted in only one participant being "tricked" by the hymenopteran immature.