Community Day

The Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute opens its gates to the public on the fourth Saturday of every month (excluding December). This past Saturday I had the chance to participate in the April event, as a guest and helper.

SASI is located in Tucson Mountain Park, a scenic enclave located, ironically, west of the city of Tucson. It shares the park with Old Tucson Studios and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, all of which are, sadly, inaccessible by public transportation. An “unimproved” dirt road leads to the headquarters. The facilities include a classroom, library, laboratory, and both live and pinned specimens.

The all-day activities of Community Day begin with a morning nature walk on some of SASI’s 350 acres. Our walk turned up a few insects along with some wildflowers and blooming cacti. A cactus bee of the genus Diadasia, and a tiny bee fly in the genus Neacreotrichus were among the nice finds.

At 11:00 AM we were treated to an indoor presentation. Jim Verrier is the Director of the nursery for Desert Survivors, a non-profit that helps employ the disabled while furnishing mostly native plants for landscaping. Jim talked about host plants for butterflies and moths in the Tucson area.

We all broke for lunch at noon, treated to fresh tacos, beans, and garnishes prepared by a friend of SASI.

The afternoon brought more people in, with lots of children in tow. The live arthropod presentations in the classroom are always a big hit, and this day was no exception. John Rhodes had his menagerie back on exhibit, allowing the kids to handle the more “user-friendly” species.

The last program was another hands-on activity, where the boys and girls created their own mini eco-sphere, complete with Daphnia or ostracods, paired with algae suspended in water. The children got to take home their tiny aquatic world when they left. I do wonder how many got home and told the other parent “Look, I’ve got algae and an ostrich!”

John showed an incredible degree of patience with the kids, but it seemed like a long day from my perspective. Still, I’m looking forward to the next Community Day, on May 20, 2010.

A "SASI" Organization

Last Monday, April 19, I was asked to help at an educational event presented by a local organization known as the Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute (SASI for short). Emily Francis, John Rhodes, Barb Skye, and myself entertained four busloads of third and fourth graders from the Hopi Elementary School in Scottsdale, Arizona. We all convened at a ramada (shelter) in Reid Park near the center of Tucson.

John Rhodes (pictured above), a retired teacher, furnished many live insects, spiders, scorpions, and other invertebrates from his personal collection. He has some of the healthiest, most magnificent arachnids and insects I have ever seen in captivity, like the bark scorpion (Centruroides sculpturatus), vinegaroon (Mastigoproctus giganteus), and cactus longhorn beetle (Moneilema gigas) pictured below.

SASI was founded in 1986 as a non-profit organization by Steve Prchal. Its headquarters is located within Pima County’s Tucson Mountain Park, just west of Tucson. The facilities, which mostly serve researchers, include a pinned collection, library, live specimens for educational outreach programs, and 350 acres of classic Sonoran Desert landscape.

The program for which SASI is best known is the annual Invertebrates in Education and Conservation Conference, held in Rio Rico, Arizona at the end of July, beginning of August. This meeting, formerly known as the Invertebrates in Captivity Conference (informally as “Bugs in Bondage”), attracts keepers and managers from live invertebrate exhibits in zoos and butterfly houses all over the world. A second conference, Medical Entomology Today, will have its debut in January, 2011 in Tucson.

Back to the Hopi Elementary event. A total of 140 children and adults enjoyed the many cool critters displayed, and hands-on activities, as well as a pizza dinner. This was the last stop on a one-day, whirlwind tour that included Biosphere II and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. I was amazed the kids had any energy left. The adults did a most outstanding job of herding the students, who were back on the buses before we could blink. Many thanks to all involved for making the ninety minutes go off without a hitch.

Perhaps you would like to learn more about SASI? Please visit them at sasionline.org, and also at their “fan page” on Facebook. You can also direct questions here if you like.