Another Visit to the Farm

We visited the farm again. This time I caught pretty butterflies.

And I saw this weird arthropod.

And this reptile.

That's Dad beside his grapefruit tree.

Mom and Dad watching the pigs which they will be selling soon.

Insect Collection: 29.33% Complete

Heyy, who's turning 19 on Monday? It wouldn't hurt to post my wish list, right?

1. Diplurans
2. Proturans
3. Springtails
4. Bristletails
5. Mayflies
6. Dragonflies, damselflies
7. Stoneflies
8. Cockroaches
9. Termites
10. Praying mantises
11. Earwigs
12. Grasshoppers, locusts, katydids, crickets
13. Leaf insects and stick insects
14. Webspinners
15. Booklice
16. Lice
17. Bugs, cicads, mealy bugs, aphids
18. Thrips
19. Dobsonflies, alderflies
20. Lacewings, antlions
21. Beetles
22. Twisted-wing flies
23. Fleas
24. True flies
25. Caddisflies
26. Moths, butterflies
27. Ants, bees, wasps

In short, various kinds of insects. I'd also appreciate dresses and movie tickets and books and shoes and brazo de mercedes, but I kinda really need those insects.

Periplaneta americana gave my happy hormones back.

We were stuck there, inside the cafeteria, on that rainy Thursday afternoon. We were fighting the urge to go to the mall and have fun because we all have exams on the following today. It was time to come up of a plan. We have decided to go somewhere "away from the harsh realities of life". We didn't hit the nearest mall; we went a little farther, a little away from the harsh realities of life. I do not exactly have an idea why we were feeling so low that day. I supposed we were just low on happy hormones. Maybe it's the season? Maybe it's one of those things, as Miguel calls it, mid-sem crisis.

We ate at our favorite place, Tokyo Tokyo. We were supposed to go home after dinner, but we realized it wasn't even 7PM! We spent some of my extra tokens on videoke instead. Finally it was time for us to go back to the harsh realities of life and study for our exams tomorrow.

The next day was the exact opposite of the day before it. The lab exam in entomology was so stressful yet fun. I couldn't say it was easy because I knew I could have done better if I had studied the other parts as thoroughly as I did on the other parts. What I enjoyed was the dissection. There was a list of body parts, both internal and external, and we have to pin them and show the specimen to our instructor. I looked at the list and realized that more than half of it requires a grasshopper specimen. All I have is a smelly cockroach. I couldn't pass the exam without a grasshopper. So I stood there thinking, "Where to get a grasshopper? Where to get a grasshopper?" Then I remembered I kept my jar of insects inside a cabinet in the laboratory! I rushed to the cabinet and was glad to find my jar still there. And you know what, I have this large grasshopper which accounted for 60% of my dissection grade.

The remaining 40% was from my smelly cockroach. There were silent shrieks from students who were trying to get their specimens from a bottle full of cockroaches. Thank God someone helped me pin my specimen on the dissecting pan. Getting your specimen from the bottle then pinning it is the hardest part of the test. This was the first time I dissected a cockroach independently since we always perform dissections either in pairs or in threes. I will never ever ever forget the foul stench of my cockroach. I managed to pin its cercus, its proventriculus, its Malpighian tubules, and its alary muscles, yay!

My exhausting day did not end there. I had to attend a meeting right after my lab exam. After much noting of minutes and all, I was happily on my way home.

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.