Rooting and Pooting!

Dr. Roger Key spent the day at Foxglove leading a workshop for staff and volunteers on insect identification.

The first hour or so was spent out around the centre and heathland with sweep nets and pooters.

There was a large variety of insects, spiders and other invertebrates to be found in these habitats.  Froghoppers, flies, spiders and micro-moths were the most numerous to be found, though there were no shortages of individuals from other orders.

Like many other animals, insects have suffered in the prolonged period of bad weather this summer. 

Once the collecting pots had been filled it was back to the classroom where the next few hours were spent analysing our finds, trying to key them out and match them to pictures.

The majority of the day was spent peering down microscopes, and it was not possible to identify every specimen to species level due to the sheer number of invertebrate species, and the subtle differences between them.

Thank you Roger for giving up your valuable time to run this enjoyable day for us!  We are sure the information will help us all when we are out leading guided walks.