Troutnut Forum > Fly Fishing Discussion > wanted: bug collectors
| Konchu | July 22nd, 2007, 12:34 pm | |
| Indiana Posts: 200 | For those of you who don't know, or haven't guessed, I do mayfly research. http://mypage.iu.edu/~lmjacobu/research.html I've already formed collaborations with several people who visit this site and wonder who else out there might be interested. Currently, I'm looking for fresh specimens of about any mayfly species in any identifiable stage. Is anyone from the USA or Canada up for some field work? If so, send me a Private Message (PM), and we can talk. Assistance will be duly acknowledged in print, unless anonymity is requested. | |
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| Troutnut | July 23rd, 2007, 3:37 am | |
| Fairbanks, AK Posts: 1115 | Luke, I've stickied this topic for you for a while. Let me know if you get enough people and don't need to recruit any more, and I'll un-sticky it. Can you write a little more here about the specifics of this research? Also, what are you looking for in the way of quantity, specimen preparation, etc? For example, would it be worthwhile for anyone to send you 5 dozen H. limbata spinners they scooped up, or are you just looking for unique bugs? | |
| Jason Neuswanger The Troutnut | ||
| Konchu | July 23rd, 2007, 9:19 am | |
| Indiana Posts: 200 | This project is another big step in sorting out the natural history of North America's mayflies. A colleague and I are working together on a project to make a fresh collection of as many different North American mayflies as possible. Multiple specimens for single species collected from several places will be very helpful so that we can see natural variation. Specimens should be collected into 100% ethanol, if possible. We'll pull tissue from the specimens and get information about the DNA. DNA is useful for studying populations and how they move and change and where they came from. It will help answer questions about recolonization of streams and seasonal distributions of species. It is also useful for confirming which spinners go with which nymphs and the like. As some of you have seen in discussions here, current mayfly identification is often more art than science for certain species. The new scientific tools that we have now can help lead to a better understanding of the basic biology of mayfly species, which in the long run, means an increased ability to manage and conserve freshwater habitats and watersheds. | |
| Konchu | July 23rd, 2007, 10:02 am | |
| Indiana Posts: 200 | I should put a qualification or two on all this. Right now, I'm just trying to put feelers out to see who is possibly interested in helping. I am not ready for specimens to start pouring in. Even when I am, I will have to be selective about accepting specimens to be practical with my time; this is why I'm communicating with people via PMs. My thought is that a grassroots effort will enable us to cover a wide geographic area and seasonal span in a short amount of time. | |
| Psyfly | August 10th, 2007, 11:51 pm | |
| Wellsville, NY Posts: 18 | I really wish I had the time to do something like this. It is wildly interesting | |
| "If I might be judge, God never did make a more calm,quiet, innocent recreation than angling" Isaac Walton www.tierneysflies.com | ||
| Shawnny3 | August 11th, 2007, 12:37 am | |
| Pleasant Gap, PA Posts: 541 | You think it's wildly interesting now, wait until Konchu has you jumping off bridges to collect mayfly samples. -Shawn | |
| Jewelry-Quality Artistic Salmon Flies, by Shawn Davis www.davisflydesigns.com | ||
| Konchu | August 11th, 2007, 6:34 am | |
| Indiana Posts: 200 | Already a big thanks needs to go out to those who've 'jumped' at the chance to participate. I'll try to update progress on the project as we go along. Already, I've got about twenty species from the West Coast. People from this site are collecting in several other geographic regions now to get the other 611 some odd North American species. This could mark the first scientific use of the term TroutNut. Hopefully, a little peer pressure will help me to keep moving on this and sharing the progress. I hope also to share some Web resources that I'm developing as spinoffs of this project that users of this site might find interesting or helpful, including a mayfly habitats page. If you've got questions or concerns, please let me know. Here's a link to the program: http://www.barcodinglife.org/views/login.php | |
| Martinlf | September 4th, 2007, 5:36 pm | |
| Palmyra PA Posts: 908 | Konchu I've gotten very busy with work and haven't gotten my collecting stuff organized, but I am trying to get around to it. | |
| Louis Is it not an art to deceive a trout with an artificial fly? A trout! that is more sharp-sighted than any hawk . . . and more watchful and timorous than your high-mettled merlin is bold! --Izaak Walton The Compleat Angler | ||
| Konchu | September 5th, 2007, 5:10 pm | |
| Indiana Posts: 200 | No worries. I am wrapped up with a number of other projects myself. If anyone else is interested in this, please contact me! At some point, I'll post a list of species that have come from Users of this site. | |
| Konchu | September 15th, 2007, 10:04 am | |
| Indiana Posts: 200 | This yahoo news article give a good introduction to the barcoding project. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070915/ap_on_sc/barcoding_life;_ylt=AiOQTr89ZS663V688J1SuYus0NUE I'm hoping to make a dent in the accumulated specimens in my office this weekend. | |
| Konchu | November 2nd, 2007, 8:36 pm | |
| Indiana Posts: 200 | Hey guys (and gals?). Just a word of thanks to those of you who have been sending me stuff. It's been great! A few of the specimens have my mind reeling. Before sending any new material, please make sure you get a response from me with new instructions, either from a PM on this website or email (for those of you who have mine). All the best! | |
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