Honduras 2007

Title:

1. Dung Beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) responses to bait type

2. Hand collection of Coleoptera to assess species diversity

3. Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae), Jewel Scarab Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) and Moths (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae, Sphingidae & Saturnidae) as indicators of forest disturbance (PhD project fieldword assistant of Jóse Nunez-Mino, University of Oxford)

Funding: Operation Wallacea & Self

Organisation: Operation Wallacea

Position: Invertebrate Scientist

Location: Cusuco National Park, Honduras, Central America

Fieldwork dates: July-September 2007

Project dates: Ongoing

Platycoelia humeralisProject Overview:

I worked for 2 months as an Invertebrate Scientist for Operation Wallacea in Honduras. I worked as one of 6 scientists on an insect biodiversity project. I used dung-baited pitfall traps to survey dung beetle distributions, and carried out nightly light traps to survey 3 moth groups and jewel scarab beetles. As well as teaching university and school students the importance of insects in the forest ecosystem.

I also implemented my own project looking at dung beetle bait preferences, and hand collected insect specimens in order to look for species of interest that have not been previously recorded by quantitative trapping methods. I am currently mobilising this data and giving a series of talks on my work in the jungle and the experiences from my travels.

PassalidaeNews Updates

All of my specimens from Honduras are currently in the freezer at the Hope Entomological Collections, Oxford. I have given myself strict instructions not to look at them until I have mobilised all of my Zambian specimens, as I think it is important to finish one experiment at a time! However, a sneaky peak has shown me that I have one very interesting species already...I will keep you updated on that one when we have verified it.

Jóse-Nunez Mino is currently working on the specimens we collected for his PhD and has already unearthed some very interesting finds...more information will be available when they have been confirmed.

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