Drafts

After obtaining one of the infected leaves, we will use the dichotomous key, found in Leaf Miners of North America (Eiseman 2019), to separate the data on mines made by different leaf miners. We will then measure the path of the leaf mine from the insertion point to the first vein crossing. Through our observations, we noticed some leaf miners show avoidant behavior (Figure.1), and travel to the edge of the leaf seemingly to avoid the veins. Even though this behavior does go through ends of the veins, we are defining the first crossing as the first time the mine crosses in the inner 80% of the vein. We intend to measure the first crossing, categorize the crossed vein as asymmetrical or symmetrical, and measure to the next crossing of opposite type. We will measure the total length of the mine, and measure the distance from the insertion point to the closest symmetrical vein in order to determine if the symmetrical region is accessible. We also plan on measuring the width of the mine at each crossing in order to determine if crossing is a function of size or the structure of the leaf.

Discussion (ask about abbreviating aym and sym to save space)

    A few generalizations can be made about the data collected. Of the miners that crossed veins, 75% of them crossed in asymmetrical regions first, which is consistent with the idea that females choose to lay their eggs in asymmetrical regions (Moller, 1999). The smallest asymmetrical vein crossing was at a width of .2mm and was complete, however, the closest symmetrical vein was at a growth of .261mm and the mine was left incomplete. Every leaf mine was long enough to be able to access a symmetrical area, but only 33% of miners proceeded to do so. It appears as though leaf miners do not have a strong tendency for or against symmetrical areas. Cursory observations suggest that symmetrical regions may slow the growth of the leaf miner. Since the quality of the leaf can change between symmetrical and unsymmetrical regions (Moller, 1999), this may be an area for future study.

Future Work (bullet list)

Identify instars of S. multispicata

Relate instars to specific widths of mines

Compare growth in symmetrical regions to asymmetrical regions

Just one more day to go! I don’t really have a bunch to say. Glad to be wrapping this class up. I’ve been feeling kind of stressed out over the pace the class has been moving this past week. I feel like working in groups takes some of the load off in some respects but also presents its own difficulties. I am looking forward to starting the fall semester in a couple of weeks and getting back to the stuff that I really enjoy. I have found many of my classes challenging but they were so fascinating to me that it made it less grueling work. I really hated statistics though. 

The past few days have been a blur. I feel like I am running in circles and getting nowhere. Monday our group worked on the research proposal for 6 hours at the dining hall then an additional 2+ hours at home. We managed to get a lot done but every time I look at it it seems like we should do a bit more. The area of the highest contention was what should or should not be in the abstract. Was it too much or not enough. Not citing any resources was a difficult hurdle to overcome. Compressed courses like this are extremely fast paced and there is not a lot of time for discussion. Just have to hang in there for less then 24 hours then it will all be over. In the meantime I will try my best to put out some quality work. 

What is the perfect balance of information in a report? Not enough will leave the reader with more questions than answers. Too much information will cause a lack of interest in reading your report. The information needs to be presented in such a way that it flows and doesn’t repeat itself. How does one decide what to lead the report with? Should all the information covered all be listed first then each point explained with their own paragraph? I feel that the main points are the basis of the paragraphs and the introductory paragraph should explain what the paper is about and set the format in which the information will be presented. The difficult part is supporting information and staying on point. Having someone else edit your paper can really help with this. The author of a paper has personal feelings and biases that will affect making changes to the original work.  

     This is the last week of class and we have two of our major assignments due. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous about trying to wrap this all up and make it out of the class with a respectable grade. I have slacked on some of the daily writing requirements but I don't appear to be alone in that at least. I really miss my engineering classes. Despite them being difficult, they are truly fascinating! I miss talking about harmonic oscillators and F=ma. I am coming out of this class feeling much more confident in my choice of major. I am also looking forward to exploring some of the extracurricular opportunities I learned about at the last luncheon. I really do like the engineering track. Nervous about thermodynamics but I believe I can get through it. I have to finish my resume so I can get a work study job, too. But I can do that when the week dies down. 

Overall objective

 To sample different Elms, on the University of Massachusetts campus, in order to find leaf mining insects, and study their ovipositional tendencies.

Specific Aim 1

To sample each species of Elm present on the UMass Amherst campus, and to survey them for leaf mining insects. Pilot data shows, leaf miners inhabiting a resistant American Elm (U. americana, Brewer, personal observation). This leaf miner appears similar to Stigmella multispicata when identified using the dichotomous key found in Leafminers of North America (Eiseman 2019), however, this leaf miner has only been observed on Siberian Elms (U. pumila). We will sample of each Elm species on campus in order to observe any new potential hosts of this leaf miner.

** Normally I try to draft something for the class, or with something specific in mind, but my day started 17 hours ago and tomorrow starts in 5 hours so Im just going to write something a bit random... after careful thought all Ive got is my day so thatll be that. I suppose Ill try to organize it into sections based on good and bad events

My day has contained events that are both postive and negative with their respective instances. I brought my car in to deal with an emergency recall, at 8 am, which was supposed to last an hour. Two other recalls were also issued, and never dealt with by previous owners, and so my hour visit had turned into three and half hours of waiting. I did not recieve my car back and had to leave the dealership for my 10 hour shift at work. I had made a stop at Walmart, in order to eat at subway, and encountered my coworker. She insulted me, and then left me extremely confused as I went to eat lunch. I then had 6 hours of overlapping shift with that coworker.

I had three emergency recalls on my vehicle, however, one of them was a computer malfunction that was easily addressed. The other was for the control arms in my vehicle. These are getting replaced for free, and after a chat with the manager of the store, they are trying to convince Subaru headquarters that the faulty control arms damaged my axles, which were really worn down from the rough conditions of the roads near my home, and try to get them replaced for free. Overall this is saving me considerable money, and even if the axles arent replaced, they still have to do a 100$ alignment that I was planning on getting, and saving me at least that much. I had also misheard my coworker, and she did not actually try to insult me, and so my shift passed with far less stress than anticipated. Also, a stipend was issued to Summer Bridge Program students that I happen to be included in. 

Today we discovered that several of our measures designed to determine our leafminer mines weren’t able to be used or relevant. That’s kind of disappointing but I suppose the professors are right and that’s how science goes. I just hope that our group can come up with some definitive ways to asses the mines. It seems like all the words we want to use are vague or to subjective. The class is already winding to a close and I feel like it’s crunch time for getting stuff done. The one thing I like about what we did today was the fact that we had opportunities to make mistakes. Mistakes are such a great learning tool!  

The class period today was dedicated to collecting data. Our group began to take measurements of the leaf mines but soon realized that it may not be necessary. Dr. Long recommended that we take a breath and sit down and try to determine what it is that we want from our data. So Ivan, Steph, and myself sat down and began to hash out what it is we need from our data. Since we are only looking at mines that are only suspected of being Stigmella multispicata and nothing else we just need to determine what makes the mines on each leaf different from the others and what makes them the same. I was all very confusing and I am still trying to process this information in my muddled mind. I ponder what we looked at and I decided to download the measuring software on my own personal computer so that I can tinker with it and try to learn as I go along. Its a slow process but sometimes the things that I learn slow stick around the best. It when I just happen to get lucky and figure something out quickly and without mistakes then I never recall what it was that I did that was so successful.