By Samantha Dizon, MSc student at McGill University

Similar to others, entomologists are incredibly passionate about their field, and many have had a lifelong love for insects from a young age. With insects being the most diverse group of animals in the world, with over a million described species, it’s no surprise that the research potential within this field is as diverse as the group. This passion-driven and diverse research can be easily found among the students at the Lyman Entomological Museum. While all of us are connected through our research and interest in insects, it was thanks to the Champion Grant with QCBS that we were given the opportunity to explore each other’s entomological expertise more thoroughly. We used the funds from the grant to help Blitz the Gap in the Mont Tremblant, Québec area, just ~5 hours North-West of Montreal. Since insects are such a large group and it would be impossible to know everything, it was thanks to our different entomological research backgrounds that we were able to utilize different collection methods and observe and identify various insect groups for iNaturalist.

Some of the photos of the insects we found during our trip. Photos by Alice Assmar (left), and Ruisi Yang (right)

This trip helped us gain a newfound appreciation for each other’s research and skills in entomology, which made our trip more fulfilling and engaging. A great example of this would be when our PhD candidate, Alice Assmar, with her research focused on freshwater insects, was able to lead our group to set up a white sheet trap. This allowed us to attract insects that are mostly active at night, such as moths, mayflies, and caddisflies. We were able to learn new facts and gain new collection skills, which we would not have been able to gain sitting in our lab basement office. One of the most exciting moments during our trip was when Alice spotted a spongillafly on our white sheet trap. This was an incredibly rare specimen, and despite Alice studying spongillaflies for years, this trip was the first time she had seen it alive in real life.

This trip was also a great way to connect and bond with our lab members. Especially when the weather was so unpredictable that weekend, with constant rain, we tried to make the best of the situation and took full advantage of the trip when we had the chance. We went on hikes around the area, took many photos of insects for iNaturalist, and appreciated being surrounded by nature. Overall, we observed some amazing insects while helping to fill gaps in our knowledge of biodiversity in Canada and created great memories along the way!

General takeaways from our team:

“I’m actually surprised by what we were able to observe during the day when it wasn’t raining. I really got a better idea of what forest insects entail, since I mainly have experience with open fields, bogs, and parks. Sometimes we would come across large groups of flies or Hymenoptera on an unsuspecting plant or location, and we would wonder what they were sensing from the spot that we couldn’t. It was a lovely experience that brought our team closer together, and I look back on that trip with fond memories and great photos.” – Don Ran

“I am grateful for this opportunity to connect with the lab as we navigated through traffic, rain, and field work. The unpredictable weather became a fun challenge for us to adapt and schedule our field outings to get the most out of the trip. I had a great time working with the team to solve whatever problem came up, whether that was setting up the light trap, making a campfire, searching for insects, or cooking dinner.” – Ruisi Yang

“I truly enjoyed visiting Mont-Tremblant National Park. I was surprised to learn that we do not know much about the insects’ diversity there. The trails in the park were beautiful, and the numerous lakes created an ideal environment for freshwater insects. Although the rain limited the ability of insects to fly, we were still able to photograph mayflies and caddisflies, which are bioindicators of water quality. Additionally, we found incredible butterflies, fireflies, and parasitoid wasps. Outside the scientific aspect, we also adventured as Girl Guides and made a fire, which was an amazing experience.” – Alice Assmar