It’s been a wild and wacky week in Toronto weather-wise. Wednesday experienced virtually all the seasons in one day. The high winds and mixed precipitation have caused our tent to collapse three times, resulting in a loss of some collected specimens. Although we are a bit disappointed and frustrated, this is certainly a teachable moment. Science is not perfect and the students at JPCI are getting first hand experience in learning this reality. We have had some lively discussions on how best revise the set up of our trap. The students have decided to re-position the straps and pegs and have applied extra anchors to help the trap withstand the wind, rain, snow, and, hail.

We are happy to report that the trap stayed standing Wednesday night and we have topped up the collection bottle fluid. Fingers crossed that it stays up and the bugs keep coming.

Next week, the students have decided to move the trap to a slightly less exposed part of the garden to try and reduce the weather-related disturbances. Stay tuned. We hope that other groups are having a better luck with their bug collections.