UF Entomology Field Camp – Bug Camp

This was my first year attending Bug Camp at UF. I had such an amazing time. I made lots of new camp friends and learned a lot about insects. We did field research. We worked on our team names and chants. For some reason we chanted RANDALL!In the evenings I worked a little on my chemistry. I also kept sneaking out at 3am to “go to the bathhouse” under the guise of hunting night insects. I caught many cool beetles in the dark. We had awesome guest speakers! We even got to dissect grasshoppers.  I worked on my collections. I grew my collection by over 100 insects when at camp. We learned about bees and the process of bee farming. We toured the Natural History Museum and watched the butterfly release. More curating! This is my favorite part. I don’t like the labeling part but I am getting used to it. I loved the nematology department. We collected soil samples, washed them down in filters, spun them in the centrifuge and then viewed them under the microscope. Aquatic collecting was the best! We loved using our new aquatic net. We visited Santa Fe River and collected hellgrammites, baby dobsonflies. They are really intimidating looking. At the end of camp we found a nitrogen ice cream bar called FogBox! It was awesome!  Next we are off to Washington DC for the holiday week.