ANSP Museum Trip

This week I visited the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (ANSP) with fellow Mantodea researcher Henrique Rodrigues and Staphylinidae researcher Logan Mullen. While at the ANSP, I had the joy of examining the Kongobatha diademata holotype, described in 1920 by Hebard. The specimen was not in the best condition, but I was able to capture …

The Mantises of the DRO

Having spent some time collecting praying mantises at the Daintree Rainforest Observatory, I wanted to compile a short list of the praying mantis taxa that Orthopterist David Rentz and I have collected on the property. Unfortunately, I was not able to capture live habitus shots for Orthodera or Metoxypilus. Ciulfina sp. can be found on small to medium sized tree …

Australia Field Work ii–iii.2017

I spent the last couple of weeks in northern Queensland, Australia sweeping and light trapping praying mantises in the bush. I was looking for green, leaf-dwelling Iridopterygidae, of which there are two genera found in Australia: Kongobatha and Neomantis. I also sought to collect and preserve all of the adult mantises that I found for …

NSF EAPSI: Australia

As my summer of data collection continues, I am making my way through Australia thanks to the support of an NSF East Asia Pacific Summer Institutes fellowship. My first stop was in Canberra to meet with the Australian Academy of Science staff and learn a bit about Australian and Aboriginal culture. Canberra is spectacular-- on my very …

Natural History Museum, London

A visit to Europe would not be complete without a stop at the Natural History Museum in London! As one of the largest entomological collections in the world, it certainly didn't disappoint. I even got to meet Darwin... 😉   Similar to my work in the MNHN, I spent my time at the museum character coding. …

Muséum national d’histoire naturelle

I passed quals! To celebrate, I spent 6 weeks in Paris, France working with mantodologist Roger Roy of the MNHN. My trip to Paris was generously funded by a Pancoast Memorial Fellowship (CWRU). While there, I coded morphological characters of Iridopterygidae praying mantis specimens accessioned within the museum. It was lovely to be able to …

Alaska Museum of the North

I was fortunate enough to travel to Fairbanks, Alaska to visit LM, an omaliine rove beetle systematist, and prepare for my qualification examination at the University of Alaska Museum of the North.