We Love Durham NC

Blacklighting

We went blacklighting last night at the science museum in Durham. Blacklighting is sitting in the dark with a really bright light, watching and collecting bugs attracted to that light.

The two blacklight stations were set up on the boardwalk leading to the bears and lemurs, one halfway and one down at the water area. The boardwalk, of course, goes over and beside the pond, juicy with bug life. The best time to blacklight is after a heavy rain when there is no moon, so conditions were not ideal, but we were able to see moths and beetles and various flies.

Leon, the entomologist who does the bug outreach programs, also to school groups, held an excellent Q&A as the last bits of sun went down. We learned that there are 4 kinds of “bugs” including insects, spiders, ‘pedes, and the kind you eat (shrimp and other crustaceans), and that there used to be a 5th kind, the trilobites.

About 75 people attended, mostly parents and children, but also some groups of adults. We were there from 8:30 to 10:30pm, and as the night wore on, most people left except the hard-core bug collectors.

A bright mercury light was set up to attract the insects, a UV light made them want to hang around, and a large sheet was hung to allow for easier viewing, and to give the bugs something to land on.

Our best find was a very big diving bug. (Looked like a roach to me.) The middle-school aged boy who had a container to capture it held it between his finger and thumb and said, “It’s biting me, ouch.”

Next time we will think to bring lots of containers to transport the bugs home and strong flashlights to spy all the loud frogs in the pond. And, yes, it does seem very backward to bring bugs into our house, but ’tis life with the Boy. As long as they stay downstairs, m’kay? And in their enclosures.

Oh, we also saw a bullfrog eating a tree frog, and heard a frog called a Banjo Frog. It really sounds like a loose banjo string.

Look at a Durham Naturalist’s photos of moths and other bugs here. 

2 Comments to Blacklighting

1. 

   Wow. I didn’t know bullfrogs ate other frogs. That’s kind of gross. :)

   Maybe we can work up the courage to come out into the dark next time. I think the local dollar store has the kind of bug houses with the hinged screen doors…
ACW on August 10th, 2008
2. 

   That would be a lot of fun! Yes, there are bug houses, but also the bug collectors last night simply had multiple small plastic takeout containers and largish test-tube-shaped containers with lids.
Valerie on August 10th, 2008

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