Bugging You From San Juan Island

This morning started out great until I sat down to try and write up my blog post for the morning. I was, and still hope, to be able to get out my Fantastic Fly Friday post because I do have a very cool fly to show you today too. Unfortunately, I lost all my work this morning because our internet is T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E! I attribute some of it to life on an island. There’s definitely a big trade off. It is not paradise. Ask me if you ever think about moving to an island and I’ll share my list!

Back to my moths though. I have my light and tent from Ecology Supplies going year round on our deck. It’s a great spot because it’s covered, so I don’t get wet when it’s raining. The only thing I’ve had to do is anchor my tent so it doesn’t walk around in the wind.

Here is the little grouping of moths I arranged this morning. All were handled with great care. I am not pinning these specimens. There’s no need for me to do that because with the detail I get from macro photography, and my knowledge and experience observing species out here for almost 18 years now, I’m pretty familiar with most of them. There is no pleasure for me in killing them and sticking a pin in these poor little ones just so I can add them to a physical collection to brag about on social media.

In fact, for me, killing them would put me in the same category as that awful man named Cody Roberts who tortured that poor wolf and took a selfie in a bar before killing it. How anyone feels OK about taking the life of something for a trophy is beyond me. Some people take little insect “trophies.” I’m not really fine with that. Probably I will have plenty of criticism over this, but those citizen science folks who want to advocate for collecting bees or butterflies, or whatever, so they can claim fame as an “expert,” make me uncomfortable. Those photos of the now dead and pinned bees you grabbed off your currants to pin for your “bee expert” class that you bragged about collecting and posted on social media made me feel sad. Take a photo. Stop exploiting life.

You learn more by observing and taking photos and videos than you will ever learn by sticking a pin. I really appreciated my former entomology taxonomy professor, Paul Choate who encouraged me to utilize macro photography and learn by observation instead of merely making a physical collection. While I did have to do this as part of my entomology program requirement, he made an exception so that 30% of my curated collection could include macro photography of my specimens. I also learned how to utilize specimens I found that were already deceased. I think the most disturbing part for me now is seeing the celebration posts I see by folks gleefully sharing their “catch.” There’s nothing to celebrate about killing. Nothing.

I’ve said my piece.

Please enjoy these living beauties I photographed to share with you.