So, this is my first post of the week, but that's just because this week is pretty much a repeat of last week, but with a different block of wasps. Well, I guess I'll just mention now that there are at least six total testgroups, and this is only the second one.
On Monday, we observed wasps mate on leaf dishes, or in vials. If you'll recall, the wasps (W- females and either W- or W+ males) would rather mate on leaf discs in Petri dishes than in their vials, but occasionally, we'll come across a pair that likes it in those little glass tubes. The one thing that could've gone better was the deposition of males onto dishes. Although the females don't mind being on the dishes (there's whiteflies there onto which they can oviposit), the males have really nothing to gain because beyond the female, they don't care about the leaf disc. Unlike the females, they can't oviposit and aren't carnivorous, so, yeah.
Yesterday, we prepped some new leaf dishes onto which the current block of mated female wasps from Monday will oviposit. Today, we deposited those wasps onto those dishes, and that was all. I got the rest of the day off after 11:30! How amazing!
Tomorrow, we flip whiteflies!
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when you say you're flipping wasps and whiteflies, i picture you flipping them like pancakes. I hope you're using a good spatula =]
ReplyDeleteI'm using a tiny pointed metal rod glued to the inside of a pipettor tip, actually. I'll suggest spatulas, because the current system is freaking difficult!!!
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