Setting ovitraps

7/12/24: 

This week I went to some new mosquito trapping locations to setup ovitrap cups. The cups are used to collect mosquito eggs for hatching and identification purposes. The trap is made of a wooden tray that holds the cup containing a mixture of water and stinky water (fermented hay water) as well as a curled piece of seed germination paper. I will collect the mosquito eggs after a week. I will remove the seed germination paper the mosquito eggs will cling to. Then I will take them back to the lab in order to hatch the larva for identification. I am looking for Ohlerotatus japonicus, Oc. triseriatus and Aedes albopictus since these are the species that like the ovipositional environment of a small water pool in an artificial container. Another special thing about these mosquitoes is that each species only lays one egg at a time, unlike some other species like Culex pipiens which lays 100-200 individuals in an egg raft cluster. 

The ovitrap materials and a set up ovitrap near my boots

A close up picture of the ovitrap setup

7/19/24:

Today I went back to the ovitrap locations to pick up the eggs that have been laid in the past week. When I got to the first trap location in Sandwich I had to prepare the new water and seed germination paper to continue collecting eggs for the next week. Luckily the ovitraps were still in the same locations I had placed them since my coworkers had warned me that many cups had gone missing due to wildlife and humans who were very curious in the mosquito egg traps.  I pulled out the paper and I held it close to my face to inspect the eggs that I could see with my naked eye. I struggled a lot with finding the eggs because they were not very visible without a microscope. I packed the paper into a small collection box layered with damp paper towels to keep the eggs moist while I collected the other traps during the day. Once I was done with my route I got back to the lab and immediately took out the papers so the eggs would dry out over the weekend. Once the papers are dry I can count and cut out the eggs for incubation. 

7/22/24: 

The seed germination paper is dry and the eggs are ready to be counted. I sat at the microscope for a few hours looking carefully at each piece of paper to count the number of eggs, so I could compare my data to the number of larvae that hatch from the eggs in the next few days. while counting the eggs I used a pencil to circle the eggs so I could cut out the eggs and arrange them in a cup of water for incubation. Now the eggs are being incubated in the incubation cabinet. Once the mosquitoes have hatched I will wait until they are 2nd or 3rd instar larvae so I can identify them. 

The cut of pieces of seed germination paper with the mosquito eggs

Cool picture of the birch polypore mushroom that I saw when I was setting up the ovitraps in Sandwich, MA. The shelf fungi were very tough and looked as if they had been there for many months. 

Also a picture of a tick, I don't know a lot about ticks but if someone would like to help me out that would be great! I had looked it up in the Seek app (iNaturalist) and it says American dog tick possibly. 

Field ecologist in training 

David