New Contributer, New Stories!

Returning from a hiatus this summer and fall while trying to focus on grants and publication, we'll be posting more to the blog in the upcoming month to catch up on what has been going on in the collection and the museum. A few things first!

- Our new Collection Manager Andy Boring will be contributing to our blog in the future. His first upcoming post will be about the interface of sushi and insects. Didn't think they could mix? Neither did I, and I hope you're looking forward to his post as much as we are!

- We had a manuscript be accepted for publication that was based on the research with our Honors Research Assistantship Program student Jacob Mitchell this past fall/spring! The research was based on looking at distributions of velvet ants in Oklahoma, and finding species never found here before. We would not have known the two species below were state records until we were able to compile all the known records of these insects in our state, and it took a lot of work! We also found a county record for Johnston Co. from this year's BioBlitz at Camp Simpson, and are looking forward to getting it identified to see what species it is!

New state records: Dasymutilla foxi and Dasymutilla snoworum

- Andy and I will be at the Entomological Collections Network Annual Meeting and the Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas tomorrow through Wednesday, so we'll likely have posts about that as well.
   Have a great day, and get excited for Andy's next post!