Bugs & Music

It's too hot in Louisiana to do much field work at the moment so I've been spending my time in the lab processing insect samples and I now have a start of a collection going on, as you can see in the pictures below. It's a real challenge trying to properly preserve and identify the insects, but ultimately very rewarding as well when you finally manage to identify a sample or when you find a cool insect you've never seen before.

On the other hand, it can be infuriatingly frustrating and such slow progress at times when trying to make correct identifications. So to keep me calm and stop me losing my mind over whether the hind trochanter is elongated or not, if the pronotal lobe is adjacent to the scutellum, whether the hind tarsi has four or five segments, or if the front tibia has two or three apical spines, I often listen to chill music. Top of the list is almost always Hammock, and they released a new song and music video a couple of days ago, called Tape Recorder. At the same time they also announced that their new album will be a double album entitled Departure Songs, to be released in October. Judging by this song along with snippets the band has posted on Facebook, this album should be impressive (and I have a suspicion they will be releasing a video for every song as well)!


Off on our lab's second east coast census trip of the summer on July 26, can't wait to hit the road again...