Trip to the Field Museum

Here are just a couple photos I took while we were backstage at the Field Museum.
Enjoy. - RS

*these photos may not be appropriated without permission from the artist

into the Field (literally)

This week's class found us among at the Field Museum in the company of its the 14 million or so insect specimens and its abundant exhibits.

We visit the current The Romance of Ants exhibit about the life and work of the assistant curator there, Dr. Corrie Moreau. Luckily Alexandra Westrich who illustrated the graphic novel that is the centerpiece of the exhibit was also there to show us around.

After that as well as a tour of some of the more charismatic insects in the collection (yes, there are walking stick insects as long as your arm) lead us to then see some of the creatures at work - to the bird collection where dermestid (flesh eating) beetles were busy cleaning a variety of different skeletons, including a primate skull (!)

As you can see from the photos, it these tiny beetles live in a odorous environment to say the least...

Corrie then  talked about the work her and others do in the Pritzker Molecular Biology labs, including sequencing the DNA of the ants from far and wide: Madagascar, Australia, and perhaps most exotic of all - Florida.

It was an excellent visit. We didn't get to see all 14 million specimens, but we made a dent with a least a few hundred - no doubt the best ones.

AY

 

Dermestid Beetle Colony?

Sae's day at the Field Museum for my
Scientific Illustration class with Peggy Macnamara.
Peggy brought us into the Preparation lab of the Field Museum, where all the stuffing and positioning of the species showed in the Field museum are done before they are actually on display. In the lab, there's a room entirely dedicated for the Dermestid Beetle Colony, which belong to the family Dermestidae, also called carpet beetles or larder beetles. These beetles are commonly used by museums and taxidermists to prepare skeletal material, which was why they were in the Preparation room in the Field Museum as well.

The smell of the room was not one of the most pleasant smells I've encountered in my life. But when I googled "Dermestid Beetle Colony" I interestingly came across a website that sells Dermestid Beetle Colony starter kits.

Sae

The Romance of Ants

A temporary exhibit at the Field Museum all about ants by the Field Museum scientist Dr. Corrie Moreau. Talks about interesting facts about ants, and how one spends his/her time to study them. (The illustrations at the show, in comic book style, are done by one of SAIC Alumni who took Insect World when she was an Undergraduate.)
Check out the blog for the exhibit: http://romanceofants.ning.com/

Sae