Insect Hunting

Have I told you why I have been collecting insects? My entomology class requires all students to collect and preserve 150 different kinds of insects within the whole semester. As if finding 150 different kinds is not hard enough, we must also handle them with much care so as not to damage their body and their appendages. I personally think that lepidopterans and odonates are the hardest to preserve. Lepidopteran wings get damaged easily while odonates turn brittle when they die. I still do not have any from the two orders until now. Which reminds me, I only have around one month left to complete my collection. The last time I did my inventory was this afternoon. I only have 43 different kinds. Should I start panicking?

I have been frolicking around the campus hunting insects. I am also on the search for mating insects. We are holding this exhibit on September at the Institute of Biology in the University of the Philippines, Diliman. It will run for a week and will showcase photographs of mating insects. Everyone is invited to view the exhibit.

That dragonfly was the first insect and the first dragonfly I caught from the farm. I captured it using my bare hands. It was the first time I touched an insect voluntarily (except for mosquitoes I swat) and I felt weird and happy at the same time. It broke on the next morning, unfortunately. And those are my friends taking a break from helping me look for insects around the campus. The one in green is Rabbi and I must tell you, he has a good eye for mating insects. I should take him with me the next time I search for mating insects.

The field trip in UPLB helped a lot in my insect collection. The bulk of the collection is actually from the trip, but it is not enough.

I went to the farm today with Mom and Dad and my sister. I set up traps around the area while I go chasing butterflies. The traps I set were only yellow plates filled with water and detergent - a thing I learned from my instructor. Yellow objects attract insects. The detergent sucks the surface tension from the water, entrapping the insects. That's the best I can do. I don't have resources to set up light traps or Malaise traps.

I caught 15 insects from my farm trip today. I'm hoping to catch more next time when we stay a little longer. Dad was on a hurry to meet someone so I didn't have enough time to exhaust the insects. Maybe I can ask some of my friends to come with me to the farm and help me catch insects in exchange for brazo de mercedes.

I caught this pretty dragonfly today. I kept it in a triangle envelope, but it still broke. Sad.

If there's one thing I learned from my entomology class that I'll never forget, it's that Sir Soc is the best. Wait, I meant two things. The second one is that insects are more afraid of you than you are of them. I know it's common sense and at the same time it contradicts with biting, stinging, and killing insects, but you get the point. I used to stay away from insects. I am not actually afraid them; I just don't want them near me. It's different this time. Now I want them near me. I need them near me. Now I have to run after them and curse myself to the deepest pits of hell if I let a pretty butterfly go. My entomology class developed my aggressiveness for insects. I began seeing or noticing insects wherever I go. I actually squeal and point and hop frantically when I see an insect. And I get this really disappointed face if my situation does not allow me to run after it.

I remember the first field work we had in the campus. One of my classmates asked our instructor why he took up entomology. He replied, "Well, it started with an elective." Another one of my classmates, aware of the fact that I hated entomology whispered to me, "Did you hear that? It started with an elective." I rolled my eyes and said, "Never." Who would have guessed I would learn to love entomology?

Part 4: Bio 118 Field Trip

If I could then I would not blog about the fourth installment so I won't have to feel the pain of saying goodbye and that our field trip has officially ended. But these little things I realized happened on the ride back home, I must write them.

We were given two choices this morning: (1) spend the whole morning sleeping until the bus arrives, and (2) go hiking in Mt. Makiling. Of course I picked the second option. It would be embarrassing to just sleep when all I did the other night was sing. And I know that if my sister Angel were there with me, she would probably scold me and tell me that I must not let the experience slip away and that I wasn't on the trip to sleep.

We were supposed to go to Mudspring but since it was too far away, we went to Flat Rocks instead. It was a long way up. Mainly because I had no idea where we were going. The way up was actually easy because the path was wide and only a little rough. What was difficult was when we encountered this sign.

Those are my classmates before the sign.

We turned left as we were headed to Flat Rocks. Now we were not only climbing up the mountain, we were climbing around the mountain. What made the hike even harder was the slippery rocks and the muddy path. Every step we took made a squishing sound. Squish, squish, squish. And you had to be careful not to slip or you would fall down the cliff and God only knows what would happen next.

We reached the site after some time. It looked a bit safer than the Hortorium because the rocks were large and flat. And the water was not so deep. I immediately soaked my aching feet in the water and ohmy, the water was freezing. There were many large and colorful butterflies and dragonflies flying above us. I could have spent the whole time chasing them but for some unknown reasons, my head was in so much pain. I turned my attention to the flies instead, which were relatively easier to catch. I managed to get two of them.

One of my classmates caught a dragonfly for me.

The way back to the guesthouse was, obviously, easier. We showered and packed while waiting for the bus. I wasn't waiting for the bus, actually. I was waiting for Mom, Dad, and my sister Angel, who were coming to pick me up. They arrived, at long last, at the same time as the bus arrived. I went to search for my professor who excused himself to someone he was talking to to accompany me outside.

"Is that your sister (in the car)?"

"Yes, sir. With my parents. Bye, sir."

"Bye, Alyzza. See you on Wednesday."

I'll see you sir.

I replayed the whole trip in my mind on the ride home. I remembered how much I hated going to that trip and having to miss the annual party. You know what, I'm glad I picked the field trip over the party. I would actually give anything to relive the experience one more time. Or maybe just spend one more night in Elbi. I also thought of starting to work seriously on my insect collection now. I only have two months left and I still have around 120 to catch. I might have chosen who my thesis adviser will be. If things go well, I might miss that annual party again. When that time comes, I know it will be worth it.

Part 3: Bio 118 Field Trip

We went straight to UPLB Hortorium after breakfast. Next to IRRI, the Hortorium was one of my favorite places. My reflexes were tested as I tried to catch aquatic insects. Water striders are fast. There are 15 of us, but we only have one aquatic net. So yes, we had to use our trusty hands. It was fun trying not to get wet as you slip on rocks and catch large, colorful lepidopterans and odonates. We were all so overwhelmed by the large number of insects. We were running and squealing and jumping and laughing. It was heaven.

We had to cross those slippery rocks to find insects. Nobody could leave the Hortorium without getting wet.

That's our professor giving us instructions on how to use our equipment to catch aquatic insects. But as I have mentioned earlier, most of us just used our fast reflexes to grab water striders.

Again, we grabbed lunch and went back to the house to get some rest. What we thought was a little rest turned out to be a 2-hour sleep. It was too late for us to go the Mudspring since it was, I think, 4-5 kilometers away from the house. And we had to walk to get there. Our professor was too sweet - he didn't wake us because he thought we were too tired, sleeping oh-so soundly. Oh yeah, mine was not a 2-hour sleep. I slept for four hours! I was surprised to see nobody inside and outside our bedroom. My roommates returned after some time. Turned out they were hunting insects in the streets.

We spent the night a little differently this time - outside the guesthouse. I was hesitant to go at first (because it's 9:30PM and I think it's late), but I thought hey, tonight's our last night. I have to make the most out of this trip. Our professor took us, his Bio 118 students and his thesis advisees, to LB Square where we reunited with the other professor and his thesis advisees. I forgot to tell you - that morning in IRRI, our professor's thesis advisees came together with another professor from Diliman and his own advisees. We sang in the videoke until the wee hours of the morning. I do not have photos from that night because I purposely left my camera for safety reasons.

Part 2: Bio 118 Field Trip

We had to wake up early the next morning for our first stop, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Click the link if you want to know more about it, but it's basically a nonprofit organization dedicated to rice research (developing new rice varieties and improving rice management techniques). The place was so nice and green and the people were so friendly and approachable. They even mentioned that they offer free use of their laboratories and facilities to students whose theses are related to rice research. I became more hesitant to go to med school because of that. I think it would be great to work there. We spent the whole morning learning more about the IRRI.

Grain-sorting.

We went to this room which was kept at around 3°C. This is where they kept dormant seeds.

The next room was better. It was actually a vault which houses rice samples from different countries. And the temperature, -19°C.

This is, yes, the map of the world. It shows the countries which are members of the IRRI. The map is made of different rice varieties.

We grabbed lunch after that and went back to the house to get rest.

The second half of the day was spent looking at various collections of insects in the University. We went to the UPLB Museum of Natural History and to the Institute of Biological Sciences.

This is just one of the many collections from the museum.

We mingled with the UPLB students afterwards. Well, not actually mingle. It was 5:30PM when we finished looking at collections and the students were everywhere. It was so different in Diliman. For a moment I thought of what could have been if I had studied in Elbi. Maybe it was more laid-back, peaceful. I would be very different from what I am now. Maybe it would be...I don't know. Better? I met another high school classmate, btw. I asked him to lend me a blanket because I was shivering the other night. There were no blankets in the guesthouse.

Work did not end there. We had to set up a light trap back home to catch insects. BTW, the course requirement is to collect and preserve 150 different insects for the whole semester.

We had ice cream party after a whole day of work! Thanks to Dan who was celebrating his birthday on the same day. We had a lot of fun eating ice cream while playing "Killer", a game suitable for several players and is so much better if the players were noisy. And because our professor had to take care of us, he joined the game until we were too tired to figure out who the killers were. Our professor is the best.

Earlier I thought, "I can't believe we have to stay for two more nights." But you know what, I was beginning to enjoy the trip.

PS

I'm still tired from the trip so I'm thinking I'd stop now. Besides, I have deadlines to meet and exams to study for. And I have a Monday class, gah. I'll post the last installments next week, mkay?

Part 1: Bio 118 Field Trip

Bio 118 is our code for entomology class. It is an animal taxonomy elective required to be taken during our undergraduate years. I never planned to take this course since I was never into insects. What I had in mind was to take Invertebrate Zoology instead as an animal taxonomy elective. I know Invertebrate Zoology includes helminthology, but it also includes cnidarians, mollusks, and echinoderms. It only means one thing – a field trip to the beach.

The first time we met our professor, I thought he was cool. That was until he started giving us pop quizzes, both in lecture and in laboratory. That’s four and a half hours with him on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In addition to that, I hate insects. But on that particular morning he saw us studying at the lobby, he stopped giving us quizzes. That was cool until I remembered that I had to miss our annual ritual because of a three-night long field work at the University of the Philippines, Los Baños. He informed us about this as early as the first day we met, so I had ample time to get over it and accept my misfortune.

I learned to accept my misfortune in those two months. That was until the day of our departure. Afternoon classes were suspended on that day and we were supposed to leave the university at 6PM. That means I have time to say goodbye to my friends who will be present at the ritual. And being good friends as they are, they began convincing me to attend the ritual and go to the work site on the next day instead. I was so close to agreeing with them, but I knew better. I...I...ohmy, I can't say it! IMISSEDTHEPARTY. There.

We stopped by Shell in SLEX to grab dinner. I told my classmates that if I were to climb over the wall of the gasoline station, I'd be home in 5 minutes. I wanted to go home so bad since it was a 3-day long weekend. That was how much I hated going to the field work. I never called it field trip since I didn't consider it a trip. It's work. Work, work, work. Anyway, my classmates and I did this funny thing. There was this photo booth at KFC which flashes the customers' photos on a large screen, we tried that. We had a couple of photos which were sent to my classmate's email address. I'd be happy to upload proof of our vanity, but my classmate has not uploaded it yet.

We arrived at the guesthouse at around 9PM. What irked me even more was that we were staying at the College of Forestry which was really, really, really far away from stores and people. I tell you, they didn't call it College of Forestry for nothing. We had to walk a long way to get to the jeep route and we had to wait a long time before a jeep comes which delay me to see my high school friends. Since our professor is a cool guy (I mean it this time), we convinced him to take us to the lower campus so we could buy stuff. Oh yeah, I met some of my high school classmates down there. They were, like me, members of the school rondalla. I also met Chester that night, another high school classmate. He took me to his dormitory because I was going to borrow a pair of slippers. We had to run across the wet grass to meet the rest of the class who were waiting for me.

We spent the rest of the night playing games and laughing. That was the first time I heard our professor laugh that hard and I thought hey, he really seems to be a cool guy. He stayed up late with us because his duty was to take good care of his students. Oh yeah, one of my classmates was celebrating his birthday on the next day. We sang a nice "Happy Birthday" for him at exactly 12 midnight.

Those are my roommates (except for the guy in yellow) celebrating the safety of our arrival.

And those are my classmates waiting for Dan's (the guy wearing jersey)

birthday. And our professor, the one wearing a coral pink shirt.

I know. I should really get a tripod.

Shuffled

"He forgot her birthday."

"Really? I feel so sorry for her."

"I know! That guy, he's so stupid. He can't even talk about anything sensible!"

"Oh, yeah? Replace him then. Get her back."

He laughed. "You want me to replace him? Now you're not making sense, love. You sound just like him!"

I should have known from the very start. We weren't on the same side.

Goodbyes

"Saying goodbye is always hard. But having that feeling that we are no longer part of each other’s universe, made it a lot easier."

A friend of mine wrote this, but since I did not ask her permission to quote her, I will preserve her anonymity.

It was over - dressing up, smiling at cameras, drinking. That memory you keep on trying to bury deep, it's safe beneath the earth now. No one can dig it again and relive that feeling you very much wanted to forget. You can live in the present time now.

It was nice to know that I wasn't the only one waiting for this end, that I wasn't the only one thrilled to break free and create this little circle where only I and a few people I trust belong. It was even nicer to know that I already have that circle.

"Someday I am going to marry you and we will forget the names of those people who scarred us. We'll create our own universe where they no longer exist. Among all people I would have to trust you and you would have to trust me. We'll travel and take pictures and fight along the way. But love, we won't listen to what they say."

Complete!

This is a conversation my dad and I had yesterday, while grocery shopping with Mom.

Me: Bibili ako ng tripod.

Dad: Kumpletuhin mo na lang grades mo. Ibibili kita ng tripod.

You see I managed to get a scholarship program which reimburses my tuition and requires my grades after each term before they could finally give the money back. I should say I'm lucky enough to be a scholar until now as BS Biology is killing me gently. But I love how it kills me - Sophophora melanogaster, pretty hexagons in organic chemistry, memorizing amino acids. Anyway, an unfortunate event happened to me last summer. My Physics lab instructor gave me an INC, an abbreviation for 'incomplete'. It means that I have a passing grade but I failed to submit a requirement, well, my teammates and I failed to submit a requirement. There's nothing to worry about now because...

I remember one of the conversations I had with a friend a week ago. I told him that the only grades I have not had yet are 1.25, DRP, 4.00, and 5.00. Here's that missing 1.25. I'm not asking for the other grades, though.

And here's a certificate I received 5 months ago.

Considering how I'm faring in biology, I don't think I'll ever walk up that stage again and receive another one like this. The grades I get are just enough to keep my scholarship. Just last term I received my first, and hopefully only, 3.00. Being an iskolar ng bayan is worth the pain anyway.

Wait. Does this mean I get the tripod now?