Hillier Lab at Acadia

🌿 The forest is full of connections. 🐝🦋

From moths that depend on specific host plants to bees, butterflies and beetles moving pollen from flower to flower, there’s a whole network hiding in plain sight.

Swipe through for a few of the plants and insects we’ve encountered in the field — including some surprisingly specialized relationships. 🔎 Here are a few of the plants and insects we’ve spotted in the field this summer. How many have you seen?

🌲 Bringing the forest into the greenhouse!

These pine bark adelgid-infested white pine branches are being reared so we can study what predators are associated with the predating pest.

Our research focuses on Leucotaraxis, a native predatory fly whose larvae feed on adelgids. By collecting adult flies, we hope to better understand its interaction with pine bark adelgid and hemlock woolly adelgid.

Sorting through insect samples isn’t as simple as it may seem, and you really have to pay attention to the details. We’re looking to sort out a bunch of different insects from trap collections, including moths, geotrupids, ants, and bees, to name a few.
See how you did:

1: IMPOSTER! This is a caddisfly, not a moth. It has long antennae and wings that are covered in tiny hairs instead of moth scales.
2: IMPOSTER! Just a little June bug, a geotrupid is more rounded.
3: REAL DEAL! It’s a flying ant, it just looks like a wasp.
4: IMPOSTER! Looks like a fuzzy little bumblebee, but it’s just a fly. A clear giveaway is that bees have 2 sets of wings, and flies only have one.

A look into a day in the life of one of our lab techs (Sophie!!) out in the field working on the biocontrol portion of the HWA project.

REPOST: apparently some critical signs were cut off last time- so let’s try again: V2.0. Your zodiac sign = your Nova Scotia invasive insect! Invasive insects are those brought into an area unintentionally, often causing severe ecological damage. Here at the Acadia bug lab, we focus on hemlock woolly adelgid. You can report invasive insects you see to the NS Invasive Species Council, or the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Disclaimer: These traits are for entertainment purposes and are not scientifically proven.

Go check out the BYOB (Build Your Own Bouquet ;) ) event at Gaspereau Vineyards with the Gaspereau Flower Lady (acadiabuglabs own Wendy Hillier) .

Drink some wine, share some beauty!

Out for a morning run before today’s IUFRO
Ecology and Management of Biotic Disturbances in Forests meeting in Fredericton. Talkin’ bout biocontrol - and I’ll have copies of Rebel Researcher available too!

One joy of field work is visiting places you wouldn’t have otherwise. This summer, the Acadia Bug lab field crews stayed in Caledonia, a charming town in Queens County, Nova Scotia. Although Caledonia is small, its welcoming community and beautiful natural surroundings made it a memorable place to call home this summer.

COOL TICK FACT: Did you know that, like insects, ticks don’t use a nose to smell? 👃
While insects use sensory hairs on their antennae as a “nose” to navigate their environment, ticks use pit-like organs, called Haller’s organs, at the ends of their front legs (i.e., foretarsi) to smell around and sense what is going on in the world around them. Most ticks are almost entirely blind, so this organ allows them to maneuver around with ease!
In this video, we have an Ixodes scapularis (blacklegged tick) nymph taking a “sniff” under the microscope. Many ticks will climb taller surrounding structures (usually long grass, though this one is using a Kimwipe!) to better feel the wind and scan the smells it carries, while additionally gaining an easier attachment point for any hosts passing through. In the second photo, you can see a wild tick on a blade of grass attempting to sniff out a passing host! These critters are certainly talented at what they do! 🕷️🌾🌱