An - perhaps the - indispensable tool for an entomologist is a nice sturdy, useful net for catching butterflies, dragonflies, beetles, wasps, small children, dropped binocular caps, etc... On the second day of my trip to Peru, my trusty net of 6 years was stolen (Peruvians seem to steal anything that is not tied down or locked up even if it has absolutely no value to them - a box of bird blood was stolen last year).
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| Hard to do without a net (or much patience). ?Erythrodiplax sp.? Pacora, Peru - the net's second capture! |
But seeing as I had three months to go, the only option seemed to be to get a new one. You can't just purchase one from the local tienda here and ordering from an online catalogue isn't really possible here either... so go to the market and buy the raw supplies. After a couple hours of work, the strangest net I have ever had the pleasure of using came into being...
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| The scale is not obvious, but this is nearly as tall as I, and the circle is much larger than a normal net. |
And it works! All considered, I cannot complain one bit given the situation - though I pine for my old trusty net with a straight handle.
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| The first capture... Pantala flavescens, Pacora, Peru. |
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| I am relatively confident that this is the female of the species in the first picture. |
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