Catch-and Release Bug Hunting

Bill Chase, our Daiichi hook guru, has laid down his fly rod and picked up his digital camera this summer, as a volunteer for the NY state Natural Heritage Project studying the species distribution of Damselflies and Dragonflies. Armed with an Olympus auto-focus/ auto-flash camera he has collected more than 50 high quality photos of "Dragons and Damsels" in his neighborhood and around the Oak Orchard Game Management Area in Oakfield, NY.

According to Bill, some species are very hard to determine by photo, unless good close-ups are taken of the sides, head and/or terminal appendages. Therefore he is using a method of netting these bugs, photoing them and then releasing them to fly again  - sort of "Catch-and-Release Entomology" !

The attached photos show a large "Shadow Darner" prior to it's release and an "Ebony Jewelwing", one of Bill's best photos. Both photos were taken with his 2.8X optical zoom lens, 5.1 megapixel Olympus D-555 camera.

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