After years of entomology field work, Dr. Russo can spot and name all sorts of things most folks don't notice. As proof of her hawk eyes, we were sampling in the field one hot, sweaty afternoon and she yells "It's a stylopized wasp! I need it!" Without thinking, I take off running to vacuum up a flying wasp that had been serving as a host to Strepsitera parasites.
Strepsitera are their own insect order and feed on living hosts, like wasps. The wasp in the chamber has a wonky abdomen where the Strepsitera are living. The bottom images are the reared out results.
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One of our most popular sites is the UT Gardens. This location serves as our urban site for the Feed A Bee study. It's 5 acres of beautiful flowers right on UT's Knoxville campus! Our plants are very, very happy there. Here's proof! Here's the Mint plot at the UT Gardens. Pictured/ hidden on the left is Destiny Matheson and on the right, Amani Khalil. It's not a visit to the Plateau without a picture of these ladies enjoying a sunny day at the Plateau AgResearch Center. Blue skies and green grass. We love field season. Here's another beautiful site at the Organic Farm just south of campus. Below is a picture of the Asteracae plot. Happy sunflowers!
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