As I mentioned a few posts back, I'm going to be taking a three-week trip to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute starting in mid-May. The current plan is for me to spend the first week doing some collecting and field experiments at at this site, and then move to the main site in Panama City as a base for two more weeks of field and lab work.

I'm really, really geeked about this, and plan to blog during the trip with both barrels (at this blog and Stridulations) if I have time. Most likely, though, entries during that time will be short, because I'm planning to be very, very busy with the bugs. A collaborator at STRI has already sent me some samples, in fact. Like these little beauties (yes, that's a nest complete with inhabitants). And these ladies, whose sting can knock you flat for the rest of the day. Actually, the preliminary work that I've done on the bullet ants has shown me that there's probably little need for me to collect any more. The wasps are another matter. Of course, if they begin to recognize me, I can always retreat to my other project and set fly baits until the heat is off.