Education connection “To Finish is to Win:” The First Annual Louisiana State Museum Mad Dog Marathon

Matthew L. Gimmel and Michael L. Ferro

common complaint in tax- onomy classes is that the required new species, an ecologist conducting a com- Ainsect collection is “too hard” in one the researcher is a taxonomist describing Additionally, the authors have worked with aspect or another; i.e. too many families are students of successive classes in a formal munity inventory, a specialist on pests of a of(MLG: the TAefforts, spring warnings, 2009, LSU) and and help informal from to a good collecting location, or it requires particular crop, an extension agent, or even capacity. We have found that, despite all toorequired, much it’s time difficult to complete. or impossible Despite to travel the annoyingan exterminator. to catastrophic. Misidentifications All researchers in any of a consistently high percentage of students warnings and help from instructors and these fields can have results that range from- instructors, TAs, and veterans of the class, teaching assistants (TAs), some students the course as a result of a low collection working with outside of a labora submitgrade. A terrible poorly collections.made insect Some collection even notfail - tory setting should voucher specimens from - dentsultimately at Louisiana fail the course State Arthropod because of Museum a dismal their work. This is an absolute requirement collection.(LSAM), tested The the authors, merit ofboth these graduate complaints stu for responsible research. Specimens must student,only results a lost in opportunity a low grade, to but learn also proper rep in a fun, interesting, and engaging way. This be properly preserved and labeled before techniques,resents a wasted a poor effort use of resourceson the part such of theas beingLike sent most to specialistsentomology for departments, identification ours or confirmation (see Gotelli 2004). andendeavor properly was curated developed in 24 hours, to assess while how lim- graduate students to take a course in insect norpins placed and label in the paper, permanent and useless collection, specimens. and many families of insects could be collected ,at Louisiana which State Universityhas an insect (LSU) collection requires The latter can be used neither for teaching campus. A desire to engage the faculty and component. Insect Taxonomy is taught in how not to prepare a specimen. studentsiting our incollecting the Department range to of the Entomology, university their only possible value is as an example of- as well as other departments on campus and insect collection accounts for half of the ries of student error: technical errors and thecourse spring grade. of odd-numberedThe insect collection years gradeand the is We have identified two general catego Dog Marathon competition. the public at large, led us to create the Mad time-budgeting errors. Technical errors- based on points for each correctly identified ment.encompass Specimen problems preparation in specimen mistakes and We sought to discover what quality of (and correctly spelled) family, diversity of label preparation and specimen arrange ininsect a single collection, day at a based single onsite. diversity The data and we species within families, proper preservation specimengathered showpreparation, that the could requirements be assembled of a (pinning, alcohol, etc.), proper labeling, and alcohol),involve preserving improper insectspinning improperly (e.g. pinning (e.g. a traditional insect taxonomy course are not, overall presentation of the collection. The- dry-mounting something that should be in collection must also be turned in on time. pointing (e.g. a specimen pointed on the left families.The minimum taxonomic diversity require side), and through poor arrangement the pronotum), of the improper specimen Background:indeed, unreasonable! “Insect Collection Theory” ment for most “A” collections is about 120 One of the most important and funda- in three taxonomy classes (MLF: fall of 2000 mental skills all entomologists must possess [StephenThe authors W. Wilson, have experienceCentral Missouri as students State mistakes(e.g. not spreadingare perhaps a butterfly,the most frustrating,or a beetle with legs cattywampus). Label preparation - is the ability to identify (to some meaningful University], fall of 2003 [Robert W. Sites, as they tend to be epidemic in a collection.- level; the family rank is convenient) and pre University of Missouri, Columbia]; MLG: These mistakes often include oversized 74serve insect specimens. This is true whether Spring 2007 [Christopher E. Carlton, LSU]). fonts, wideAmerican borders, Entomologist lacking locality• Summer informa 2010 mental manipulations” to illustrate the type oftention, erroneous a result of dates, the student’s false label poor information record- docked 10% for being a day late). The title of limited time and a limited geographic area. keeping),(sometimes and through incorrect willful orientation. deceit, but more our event, described herein, commemorates of collection that could be produced given Throughout the semester, countless Thehis heroic Event! efforts. examples of proper pinning, pointing, speci- The entire competition was organized style competition at LSU as a practical in less than one week by the authors (both- to the students. Each student is put through exampleThe authors of what decided kind of to insect stage acollection BioBlitz- graduate students). Competitors provided practicalmen arrangement, exercises to and communicate labeling are precisely shown pins,their ethylown collectingacetate, and equipment, alcohol were or bor do- resources. This had the dual purpose of rowed equipment from LSAM. Label paper, preparation. At all times, proper collections generatingcan be assembled some empirical with limited data on time the timeand participants were six students (and student what is expected for specimen and label- nated by LSAM (< $100 in supplies). The plus promoting the art of insect collecting to collecting and entomology: the two authors, are available to each student for compari theinvolved department in assembling and others a proper on campus. collection, The equivalents) with a keen interest in insect collectionson. How isso a many deep andare profoundable to make mystery such to a rules were simple: Park, and Erich Schoeller. plethora of technical errors in their final Stephanie Gil, Leigh-Anne Lawton, Jong-Seok mistakes as their own (“Yep, you’re right, I - Points were awarded in the following us. Upon review most students accept these tion, must take place in a 24-hour time way: The second category, and the one we 1) Everything,period. from collection to comple pinnedwish to thatfocus beetle on for the the wrong remainder, way…”). is one of order t • 10 points for each correctly identified of either not understanding or ignoring the 2) Specimenscar required). must (Fig. only 1) be collected on family ime-budgeting errors, which are a result LSU’s main campus in Baton Rouge (no • 2 5 points forfor eacheach series correctly (5 or identified more in- required in constructing a collection. Time- - proper time investment for each of the tasks 3) Only adult hexapods are eligible for species) - submission. • 1dividuals point for of each the sameadditional species/morpho morphospe- budgeting errors inevitably result in not 4) No specimens will be accepted without- cies within a family (at the discretion of having collected enough families, not hav labelrectly data. for credit. the judges) ing identified specimens already collected,- 5) All family names must be spelled cor tionnot havingon time. properly Late collections arranged typically specimens, occur proper insect drawers for maximum presentation and/or ultimately not submitting the collec 6) Specimenscredit. must be arranged neatly in • 50 points available for overall quality of The person who earned the most points specimens.because the Interestingly, student is scrambling in our experience, at the - lastthis minuteis an area to inlabel, which identify, students or arrange rarely take the - Rules 3–6 parallel those of ENTM 4005. was to be declared the Grand Prize win Rules 1 and 2 were self-imposed “experi ner, but acknowledgments were given for all the blame. The most popular excuses for poor collections stem from time-budgeting errors: “It’s impossible to get 120 families,” “I todon’t identify have amy car specimens,” so I couldn’t “I drive didn’t to think a good it collecting area,” “I didn’t have enough time collection,” and so on. wouldSerendipitously, take so long towe label were and shown arrange what my a dedicated student can do in a short amount of time. In the spring of 2005, one student of Insect Taxonomy, Dmitry “Mad Dog” Chouljenko, performed an extraordinary feat. The day the collection was due, the collected throughout the semester were still properly field-labeled specimens he had - ning,in the pointing, freezer or and in spreading alcohol. That his specimens. afternoon, Workinghe arrived through at the themuseum night, heand made began proper pin - nomically arranged the specimens in his col- lection.locality Byand the identification next morning, labels he presentedand taxo the instructor with an exemplary A+ collec- tion spanning two drawers (though he was Fig. 1. Map of the boundaries set for the Mad Dog Marathon competition.

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Volume 56, Number 2 collecting the most families of Hemiptera, During the wee hours of the morning, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, and participants. Most participants worked in the Lepidoptera (properly spread); the most temperature of 94°F) took its toll on the as the participants diligently and wearily series; and the most morphospecies. The long periods of silence blanketed the room- Dr.entomology Meredith teaching Blackwell laboratory, (a mycologist where afrom few - notablethe Biological visitors Sciences dropped Department), by during the whoday: sorted, pinned, pointed, labeled, and identi following members of the LSU entomology - fied their catch. As dawn broke, some par emcee),department Ms. Victoria acted as Bayless, judges and for Dr. the Dorothy event: ticipants had serious doubts as to whether Dr.Prowell. Chris Carlton (Chief Judge and event departmentwas very interested head, Dr. in Timothy seeing anySchowalter; Laboul their collections would be prepared before beniales-harboringand “Mad Dog” himself, insects; Dmitry the entomologyChouljenko. 10:00 a.m. New life was breathed into the snackscompetitors and refreshments, when Dr. Gregg including Henderson home- To make the event even more interesting, of strategies for amassing the most insects grownstopped tomatoes in during from the his morning garden. bearing As the the organizers suggested soliciting personal- in aEach short participant amount of hadtime. a Lawtondifferent put suiteout deadline approached, the participants ticipant),sponsorship with by facultythe idea members that all (monetary proceeds pledges for each family collected by a par chicken-bait traps; Schoeller did intensive, feverishly arranged their specimens in- would benefit the LSAM foundation and targeted hand collecting; Gil used fruit-bait their respective Cornell drawers. Interested the Entomology Club at LSU. The pledges whotraps; reportedly and Gimmel took sifted a one-hour old grass nap) clippings. stayed asmembers 10:00 drewof Entomology near. All andcollections other depart were hisbegan completed with a generous collection, donation which Dr. of Hender$150 by- awakeAll participants through the(with night, the processingexception of their Gil, ments began arriving for the grand finale sonDr. Gregg will use Henderson for educational to MLG purposesin exchange in hisfor - - class. The most socially inclined participant submitted with time to spare, and were catch and periodically checking their black takenadmired included and gawked Zenoa at picea by those (Coleoptera: in atten thatlights sample and the processing building walls would for occupy night-flying most danceCallirhipidae), (Figs. 2 andTenomerga 3). Interesting cinerea insects (Cole- andof the succeeded bunch, Leigh-Anne in precipitating Lawton, a convinced landslide insects. The participants quickly discovered optera: ), a specimen of the rare ofmultiple support colleagues for all candidates, to sponsor including her efforts, par- of material collected greatly exceeded the waterscorpion Curicta howardi (Hemiptera: ticularly generous donations from Dr. Seth of the time of the event, and that the amount Nepidae), and a two-striped walkingstick, prepare for the collection. Since time was Anisomorpha buprestoides (Phasmatodea: Dog” Chouljenko, Victoria Bayless, and Dr. amount of material they would be able to Pseudophasmatidae). Johnson,Wayne Kramer. Dr. Dorothy Interesting Prowell, pledges Dmitry included “Mad The following morning, after much- grief,very short,for these large, often soft require insects more and thanspread 24 Lepidopterahours to properly gave set. the participants much reception was held in honor of the partici- $5 per family of Psocoptera (by Dr. Chris needed recuperation and convalescence, a Carlton) and $10 per family of Phthiraptera (by Dr. Igor Sokolov). The competition began at 10 a.m. on 10 June 2009 and lasted until 10 a.m. on 11 titleJune quotation). 2009. It began He concluded with a rousing with six pep pearls talk by chief judge Chris Carlton (source of the and lucidity: of wisdom, which varied wildly in relevance

1) Hurry, but don’t rush. 2) Respect your colleagues; they are out to 4) Keepdefeat the you! community garden organic. 5)3) SpreadDon’t use Leps plastic early bags. and often. 6) Beat with authority.

All participants took oaths with their right hand placed on Borror and DeLong’s Introduction to the Study of Insects (Triple- collectedhorn and insects,Johnson and 2004), that to they the would effect stay that they would not cheat by utilizing previously- ies. At the stroke of 10:00, the participants within the specificed geographic boundar were off! The collecting was intense for the Fig. 2. A collection resulting from the Mad Dog Marathon competition (assembled by MLF). first few hours, but this mostly sunny and 76hotter-than-average June day (with a high American Entomologist • Summer 2010 interestingidentified. Manyto note additional that the specimens families wentfrom learning what is possible with limited time- unidentified because of time constraints. It is ditionally,and mobility, we and succeeded as a surprisingly in demonstrating, lucrative would amount to at least two “A” collections fundraiser that garnered nearly $1000. Ad this combined collection of 157 families amount of skill and dedication possessed 40) man-hours spent collecting without to both our department and others, the leavingin ENTM campus 4005, all. from relatively few (about For the 2010 Mad Dog Marathon, we plan byto includepeople inselect our fieldparticipants of insect from taxonomy. other Conclusion schools and departments. - We hope our conclusions are useful as sity exists on campus for an insect collec- We have shown that ample insect diver importance of proper time management fuelto their for instructorsstudents, and trying as an to driveexample home of the tion that will receive the maximum points available. Since each of the six participants with a limited home range. 7 100spent and about 120 20 dedicated of the 24 hourshours productively, to properly high-quality results possible for students we estimate that it should take between Acknowledgments ENTM 4005. Stated another way, the student We wish to thank the judges and par- Fig. 3. Interested attendees admiring the prepare an “A” collection for submission in cornucopia of entomological delights collected should expect to spend at least one hour on during the Mad Dog Marathon. a collection for each family required. Consid- donated. We thank LSAM for donating col- lectingticipants supplies in this event, and resources, as well as thoseand Chris who pants and donors, and the score sheets were semester to complete their collections, this displayed. The winners in each category ering that the students are given an entire were as follows: Carlton (LSU) for reviewing an early version- is a reasonable requirement, especially tonof this and article. Victoria These Bayless. activities were funded given the importance of this course as the in part by NSF DEB-0516311 to Chris Carl bedrock of the entomology curriculum. References Cited Most Hemiptera families: Gimmel (23) chargedThese numbers with making should a collection. serve as valuable Gotelli, N. J. 2004. A taxonomic wish-list for community ecology. Philosophical Transac- Most Coleoptera families: Ferro (35) time-budgetingMLF kept close lessons track for of students his time who spent are Most(10) Diptera families: Gimmel (14) Most LepidopteraHymenoptera families: families: Schoeller Gimmel (4) 6.5 hours were spent collecting, 7 hours Triplehorn,tions of the C. A.,Royal and Society N. F. Johnson. of London, 2004. B, 359:Bor- Most series: Park (15) wereon each spent activity. pinning, Of the 1.5 24-hour hours timewere period, spent 585–597.ror and DeLong’s Introduction to the Study of

Grand Prize: Gimmel (779 points) specimens, 4.25 hours were spent arrang- Insects. Seventh Edition. Brooks/Cole. Most extra morphospecies: Gimmel (54) making labels, 2 hours were spent labeling Matthew L. Gimmel is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Entomology, Louisiana State Uni- drawer, and 2.75 hours were spent idle. All collections were excellent and did not ing pinned and labeled specimens in the under the direction of Dr. Christopher Carlton. His The point totals ranged from 413 to 779. primaryversity (LSU) interests AgCenter, lie in Batonthe systematics Rouge, Louisiana, of Cole- All specimens were sight-identified (80 optera, and his dissertation research is a genus- differ appreciably in the quality of specimen families), so this time budget does not take students to identify their specimens. For [email protected]. Michael L. Ferro is also or label preparation, but only in the number intoeach account hour spent any additionalcollecting, time approximately needed by levela Ph.D. revision candidate of the at familyLSU under Phalacridae. Dr. Christopher E-mail: of identified families. All participants turned two and a half hours of work were needed Carlton, where he is a teaching assistant for the in at least 48 families. The grand prize was for turning the material into properly ar- undergraduate class Science and Society. He leads won by MLG, who collected, processed, and- ranged specimens. identified 101 families. When all collections counted for, a total of 17 orders and 157 andnumerous the ecology outreach of saproxylic activities Coleoptera. and is currently E-mail: were combined and the overlaps were ac [email protected] the staphylinid subfamily Pselaphinae The inaugural year for this event was families had been collected, processed, and an outstanding success, both in terms of

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Volume 56, Number 2