Explore the amazing diversity of nighttime insects in our own backyard while participating in citizen science! If you can find a wild critter and take a picture of it you can participate as a BioBlitz observer!
Rachel Stone, Biology Instructor at Allen Community College in Iola, is hosting this project for her “Principles of Biology” class, and is inviting the community to attend as well. Citizen scientists can make valuable contributions to our overall knowledge of critical ecological information such as species occurrences, seasonality, and geographic distributions.
Join this “blacklighting” event along the Backbone Trail at Lehigh Portland Trails the night of Friday, Sept. 27th, 2019. Simply download iNaturalist on your phone and join the community project, “Nocturnal Biodiversity of the Lehigh Trails 2019” to start uploading your biological observations. Bring a flashlight (headlamps are even better!), bug spray, and a phone equipped with iNaturalist to join in on the fun!
You can park at either the eastern or western trailhead, and walk along the Backbone Trail, where a number of stations will be set up to attract nighttime insects. These will include “blacklight” setups, where we’ll have a bright light cast over a sheet, as well as “sugaring” spots, where we’ll paint a syrupy solution on tree trunks– both of these techniques should bring some pretty neat critters out!. Participants may come and go as you please.
The BioBlitz is part of our celebration of National Public Lands Day. Other events during the weekend include “Seed Collecting at Leadplant and Paintbrush Prairies” on September 28th, and a “Lehigh Nature Walk” on September 29th.
Learn More: BioBlitz: Nocturnal Biodiversity of the Lehigh Portland Trails
