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Nymphfest 2008
by Dave Small Dave@dhsmall.net
Athol Massachusetts, February 9th 2008,
morning temperature 15 degrees with light snow forecast for the day.
This hardly seems the weather for dragonflies but nearly 60 people from
across the Northeast braved the cold and snow to participate in the 3rd
occasional Nymphfest at the Millers River Environmental Center in Athol.
Athol has been a hotbed of Odonate interest and many may recall it as
the venue for the April 2004 Northeast Odonate Conference where 150 Ode
enthusiasts gathered.
Nymphfest 2008 started off, as had previous
Nymphfests, an informal way for friends to gather, dust off a few exuvia
from our various collections, and refresh our identification skills.
Excitement quickly escalated as our new DSA Northeast Coordinator Bryan
Pfeiffer suggested having the DSA co-sponsor the event and open it up to
a broader audience. The
response was enthusiastic and a virtual team was pulled together with
Bryan Pfeiffer coordinating the program, Mike Blust gathered
registrations and Dave Small handled the physical logistics.
Interestingly the program was pulled together without a coordinating
meeting or even a phone call. Amazing what you can do with e-mail and a
web page…
In keeping with Nymphfest tradition the core of the
two-day event was intensive hands on keying out of exuvia to genus and
species. Michael Veit and Maria Aliberti enthusiastically applied their
teaching abilities to steer participants though the various keys. Lab
sessions were conducted each afternoon with an elaborate impromptu lab
set-up complete with video imaging and dozens of microscopes for all to
use.
Each morning of the event featured presentations
depicting specific aspects of nymph/exuvia identification, rearing,
collection, and conservation perspectives. David Fitch (MA) led the
program with an in depth review of “Basic
Nymphology: morphology, collecting, and curation”. Other presentations
included new visual keys for Aeshna identification by Maria Aliberti
(RI). Nick Donnelley (NY) discussed Aeshna ID and comparisons of
Ophiogomphus and Gomphus exuvia. Linda Gilbert (OH) presented an in
depth photo essay on rearing Aeshna, while Mike Blust (VT) demonstrated
his apparatus and techniques for rearing late instars. Stephan and Vici
Diehl (NY) demonstrated advanced specimen scanning techniques. Kevin
Hemeon (NY) presented a guide to Stylurus ID, Lynn Harper (MA) and Chad
Edgar (OH) presented perspectives on conservation issues. Many of the
PowerPoint presentations and additional materials are available for
viewing at the Nymphfest 2008 website http://www.odes.millersriver.net/nymphfest2008.htm
We wish to thank the sponsors: Dragonfly Society of
America; Athol Bird and Nature Club; Mass Natural Heritage and
Endangered Species Program; Vermont Entomological Society; our host, the
Millers River Environmental Center; plus all the presenters and
volunteers for their help in pulling together an informative and fun
workshop.
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