On the Prairie
Chat transcript, Dave Rider
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David Rider: Thanks everyone for the good questions, I enjoyed chatting with you.
Moderator: Well folks, it looks as though our time is up. Thank you so much for participating in our final chat session. You will be able to view all of the chat sessions soon on the web site. You will see more of Dave Rider during the live broadcast next Wednesday. See you there!
David Rider: Terri - Although it is getting late in the year (not as many insects are active) we should see some of the common prairie insects - various beetles, and grasshoppers, maybe a few butterflies and moths. We will also have some displays to show you some of the more common and interesting insects that you would be likely to see.
Moderator: Terri from St. Paul asks "What kind of bugs are we going to see during the broadcast on October 13th?"
David Rider: Paul - interesting question. They all have a distinct odor, and I am not sure if one smells worse than another. I can certainly tell instantly when I have a stink bug in the net. As mentioned earlier, I think another group of insects, commonly called leaf-footed bugs, actually smell worse, but I do have a personal bias.
Moderator: Paul from Diablo View "What is the stinkiest stink bug you've found?"
David Rider: Jesse - Many do have special adaptations for living on the prairies. They can live only certain prairie plants - they sometimes have come to look very much like the plants they live on. As mentioned earlier, many now have adaptations that will help them survive the fires on the prairie. There are of course some insects that will do well no matter where they live, but the true prairie insects will probably have some type of adaptation to living on the prairie.
Moderator: Jesse from Diablo View, CA "Do insects that live on prairies have special adaptations for that habitat?"
David Rider: Heather - another good, but tough question. Different insects do different things. Some simply cannot survive the winter and either die or migrate south (like the monarchs). Others try to find shelter (like the boxelder bugs trying to get into your house). Some can survive digging down into the soil or leaf litter. Some have chemical properties inside their bodies that simply keep them from freezing. There are even some aquatic insects that you can often see swimming in the water below the ice.
Moderator: What happens to insects during the winter? Heather, Coon Rapids Coon Rapids,
Alex - Sometimes it is difficult. One thing that is important is to have a good reference collection of the already described species. If I get something new, I compare it with my collection, or with other published descriptions. If it does not match up with any of the already known species, then it is probably new. I have been studying this group for many years now, so I have a fairly good idea of what has been described and what hasn't
Moderator: Alex from Diablo View Middle School wants to know "How do you tell new species of bugs from already known ones?"
David Rider: Mrs-Mc, It is exactly like it sounds. I sit at a microscope and start with the head and describe what it looks like, then I move to the thorax, and then to the abdomen. I also have to make detailed drawings of the insect. The key is that I must describe it well enough that other workers will be able to recognize it and to be able to tell it apart from related species.
Moderator: Mrs-Mc asks "My students want to know what you mean when you say that you describe an insect?"
David Rider: Hi Meredith, Yes, although insects have lived on the prairies for a long, long time and have evolved their own ways to survive, there are some things we can do to help. For example we can time our burns for either early in the spring or late in the fall, when most of the insects have found sheltered areas that may also help them survive the burns. This is also part of our research is to figure out other ways to help them.
Moderator: Meredith from Diablo View, CA asks "Are there ways to help insects survive the prescribed fires?"
David Rider: Hello Mike - You will get a pretty good idea of this if you watch the Bell Live broadcast next week. We use quite a few different tools ranging from nets to lights to attract insects at night. We also use various traps to collect ground dwelling, surface dwelling, and flying insects. Also, there are special traps for collecting aquatic insects.
Moderator: Mike from Minneapolis asks "What tools do you use to collect insects?"
David Rider: Hi Aimee, I have probably described about 30-40 new species so far, but I have probably another hundred or so just waiting for myself to have the time to actually describe them.
David Rider: Oh, yes - In fact, the discovery of new species is fairly common. To date, there are about 1 million described species, but some estimate that there could be as many as 30-40 million species all together. That means there are quite a few left to be discovered. I just spent two weeks in Washington D.C. studying at the Smithsonian (they have a huge insect collection) and I discovered several new things.
Moderator: Aimee from Diablo View in Clayton, CA asks "How many new species of bugs have you discovered?"
Moderator: Mrs-Mc also asks "Have you ever discovered a new insect?"
David Rider: I would have to say that my favorite insects are the stink bugs. This may sound funny, but this is the group that I study, and they are very fascinating in their own way. They do have a scent gland in which they produce a fowl odor, but I don't think they smell as bad as some other insects.
Moderator: Mrs-Mc asks "What is your favorite insect?"
David Rider: Mrs-Mc - It is difficult to say just what is the best part of my job, because different things are rewarding in different ways. I really do enjoy working with the actual insects, studying them, describing them and giving them new names, but I also enjoy being out in nature collecting and observing insects. The teaching is also very rewarding - being able to pass on my passion for insects to new generations of students is very rewarding.
Moderator: Mrs-Mc from Meadow Creek school asks "What is the best part of your job?"
David Rider: Hello Heather. An entomologist is a person who studies insects. This can be any aspect of insects - their lives, ecology, names, or how they affect crops, humans, etc.
Moderator: Heather from Coon Rapids, MN asks "What is an entomologist?"
David Rider: Hi Terri, It is wonderful. Some days I get to teach interested students about fascinating insects. Other days I get to actually study the bugs themselves. My main work is naming and describing new species which I really enjoy. I am lucky that I really do enjoy my work.
Moderator: Terri from St. Paul asks "What is a typical day of work like for you?"
Moderator: Hello David. We can begin now.
David Rider: This is Dave Rider. I am now on-line.
Moderator: Hello everyone!! Welcome to our last chat session with Dave Rider, an entomologist from North Dakota State University. We will start in about 10 minutes so start thinking of questions for Dave.
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