week five

Week Five 

Yesterday we took the butterfly traps down in preparation for our next sampling cycle. It was an interesting venture into the forest to say the least. With a team member down and the space of an afternoon to clear all six sites, we were very pushed for time. Rushing from one site to the next, busy collecting butterflies, folding traps and clearing the grotty bait I almost missed the grumble of thunder in the distance. Within minutes the heavens opened and we were soaked from head to toe, at which point my plastic poncho seemed pretty useless! Droplets the size of marbles falling onto our faces, sweet petrichor filling our nostrils. I looked up into the canopy and smiled, because at that moment it didn't matter that my clothes were sodden, weellies full of water, hands stinking of rotten butterfly bait - I could only wonder at the force of an Amazonian rainstorm! 

We didn't stay long and today had the joyous task of cleaning the products of our mission. Normally butterfly traps can be attended to every other sampling cycle, but in this case the layer of inconspicuous exoskeletons, bodies, wings and other half-eaten debris was so deep that we could hardly fish out the butterfly wings. Butterfly traps seem to attract the very worst of the invertebrate kingdom. Cockroaches, crickets, wasps and spiders, these (and ants) take a special liking to tasty butterflies, though fortunately for us they don't eat the wings. 

Three friends from camp came to watch, with amusement and fascination, Mahika and I hastily scrub rotten fish off the trap sides, empty out the insect corpses and remove the lucky, though not so amiable survivors. By the end we had a bucket full of grim brown water, bodies floating on its surface and a pile of detritus on the muddy floor. Job done, and we were very glad for it - I'd chose a rainstorm over that mess any day! 

Ciao for now, 

Tish

Trap Cleaning