Recently, I’ve run across several websites that have interesting, credible and useful information that I want to share. If you find yourself with nothing to do for a while, it’s easy to get lost in this stuff. And I’m certain there are many, many more sites, but we can’t include them all.
Dragonfly Migration Project
At the Help Desk during mid-September, we had a couple of questions out of Amherst County about large swarms of big insects around dusk. While we could not confirm because no further information or sample was available, it is likely that these were swarms of migrating dragonflies. There were reports of it in the local media and from other areas, including that the swarms were large enough to be picked up on radar from Ohio through West Virginia and into Virginia. But, if you weren’t aware that dragonflies migrate, you aren’t alone. It is not a well-known or well-studied phenomenon. But there is a partnership, including university, governmental and non-government organizations, to learn more about this.
The main projects of the MDP involve developing an international network of citizen scientists to monitor the spring and fall movements of the main migratory species in North America, and using stable isotopes to determine the distance traveled by a migrating dragonfly from the pond where it developed and emerged as an adult.
The site for the information is http://www.migratorydragonflypartnership.org/index/about. At that site there is an open-source published scientific article by M. May (Rutgers) (A critical overview of progress in studies of migration of dragonflies (Odonata: Anisoptera), with emphasis on North America. Journal of Insect Conservation. 2012), identification guides, training modules, and background information. This is an opportunity for citizen scientists to help provide observational information.
Native American Ethnobotany
Maintained at the University of Michigan, this is a database of plants used as drugs, food, dyes, fibers, and more, by native Peoples of North America. There is information on many of the native herbs, and the searchable database links to the USDA Plants Database with detailed description and occurrence information. You can conduct searches in a number of ways (such as for specific uses), or you can pull from the Species list to see what is available and known about a particular plant.
For example, clicking on Acalypha virginica L, you can find the common name (Virginia Threeseed Mercury), that it was used by the Cherokee as a renal or urinary aid (along with the documented source of the information), and connect to the USDA Plant Database for additional information and photos.
The website can be found at http://naeb.brit.org/.
Consumer Pesticide Safety Information
Virginia Tech recently released a new website with information to help consumers better understand pesticide safety. The website walks though the very detailed information available on product labels that is required by US EPA (even those approved for organic production) about proper use, storage and disposal. The website also includes information on integrated pest management and pest resistance to pesticides. The big takeaway is to always READ THE LABEL every time.
The site is https://sites.google.com/vt.edu/vtppconsumerpse/home?attredirects=0.
(links confirmed on October 13, 2019)
By Betsy Brown, Bedford Extension Master Gardener
–A Bedford Area Master Gardeners Association (BAMGA) Publication–