I participated in a day of talks about insects last weekend – Day of Insects in Ames, Iowa – organized by MJ Hatfield and Nathan Brockman.

It was fun to meet other people who are also interested in insects, and to learn about what they’re doing.  My talk was about the farm and how we’re restoring it – making an effort to preserve the existing insect populations.

The talks were short – 15 minutes each  with 5 minutes for questions – so we heard from lots of people with different interests and expertise. Moni Hayne wrote short summaries of all the talks.

These are a few photos from the day.  Here I am with my goofy glasses – I needed reading glasses to see my notes.

Royce Bitzer, talking about Longhorned Beetles

Marlin Rice

Some of the conversations during a break

The meeting was held at Reiman Gardens, at Iowa State University.  My favorite place there was the butterfly wing, where people can walk in a greenhouse among free-flying butterflies.  There were dozens of species – a few natives but mostly tropical species.  The most spectacular was a New Guinea Birdwing – I had only seen photos of birdwings before.    They’re stunning – velvety black with flourscent green and blue patterning on their wings, and yellow bodies.  They’re much more brilliant in real life than any photographs I could find.