An unusual new kind of social activity is taking Concord by storm. Some of the more than 50 participants drive from out-of-state. They range in age from mid-teens to mid-seventies. They meet every other Wednesday night at Saint Paul?s School. There?s no dancing or drinking involved, although there is a certain amount of denatured alcohol. The participants meet for three hours at a time ? to identify bugs. NHPR?s Doug MacPherson reports.
To learn more about bug night, click here: http://www.merrimackriver.org/
WHEN MICHELE TREMBLAY STANDS BEFORE A DOZEN VOLUNTEERS IN A SCIENCE CLASSROOM LABORATORY, THE EXCITEMENT IS PALPABLE. WELL, ALMOST.
TAPE TREMBLAY alright, does everyone want to hear what the wild card bug is for the evening? Alright. I?m going to pick two again, because one of them is a little uncommon and there?s a possibility it might not be found. The bug of the evening is the poduridae, which is like a spring tale. And the backup to that will be the psephenidae, which is the water penny. And whoever gets one or the other call out bingo. Priority is given to the peduraday. But the water penny will be equally rewarded. :31
THE REWARD IS A RUBBER TOY IN THE SHAPE OF AN INSECT THAT CAN SQUIRT WATER ? OR, IF YOU PREFER, DENATURED ALCOHOL ? THE PRESERVATIVE THE BUGS FLOAT IN. TREMBLAY TRIES TO MAKE IT FUN. SHE?S THE PROGRAM DIRECTOR OF THE UPPER MERRIMACK RIVER MONITORING PROGRAM. EVERYONE HERE, INCLUDING TREMBLAY, IS A VOLUNTEER. THIS IS BUG NIGHT.
TAPE TREMBLAY Bug night is where we take the samples that we collected over the summer, and we sit down with volunteers and train them to sort the samples and then do the family level i.d. they first look through samples, sort them ? separate the leaves and the pine needles and the rocks and sand ? and then they move on and they start using these small vials, which contain all the samples that they sorted through. And that?s when they use the key. :25
THE KEY IS A GUIDE DEVELOPED BY VOLUNTEERS THAT ILLUSTRATES THE 54-DIFFERENT TYPES OF INSECTS THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED IN THE UPPER MERRIMACK RIVER, THE PEMIGEWASSET, THE WINNIPESAUKEE, AND THE CONTOOCOOK. USING HIGH POWERED MICROSCOPES, VOLUNTEERS IDENTIFY NEW SPECIES EVERY YEAR. KNOWING WHAT KINDS OF BUGS ARE LIVING IN THE RIVERS IS A GOOD INDICATION OF HOW HEALTHY THE WATER IS, ACCORDING TO PAUL PISZCZEK (PEACE-CHECK), A WATER QUALITY BIOLOGIST WITH THE STATE?S DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES. IN FACT, WHEN IT COMES TO BUGS, THERE ARE SOME SPECIES THAT PISZCZEK POSITIVELY HOPES TO SEE.
TAPE PAUL PISZCZEK If we?re talking about common names, I like to see may flies and stone flies and catis flies. :06
THOSE ARE ALL HIGHLY SENSITIVE BUGS THAT CAN?T TOLERATE POLLUTION. SOME SPECIES ARE MORE TOLERANT. IF CERTAIN KINDS OF WORMS, FOR INSTANCE, ARE PRESENT IN A HIGH RATIO, THAT MIGHT INDICATE A PROBLEM. PISZCZEK COLLECTS ALL KINDS OF DATA TO DOCUMENT THE HEALTH OF WATERWAYS.
TAPE PISZCZEK Subsequently those data are reported to congress in a pretty lengthy report that identifies problem waterways, potentially impaired waterways, which are targets for pollution control. :11
PISZCZEK SAYS WHILE CHEMICAL WATER SAMPLING CAN PROVIDE QUICK SNAPSHOTS ? KNOWING WHAT KINDS OF INSECTS LIVE IN THE RIVER PROVIDES SOMETHING MORE LIKE A LONG-RUNNING MOVIE ABOUT A RIVER?S RELATIVE HEALTH.
BUG NIGHT STARTED IN 1995 BY MICHELE TREMBLAY AND STEVE LANDRY. LANDRY IS A BIOLOGIST, TREMBLAY IS NOT. BOTH ARE ADVOCATES FOR CITIZEN SCIENTISTS. LANDRY TELLS THE VOLUNTEERS THERE?S GOOD REASON TO TRUST THE DATA THEY PRODUCE.
TAPE LANDRY we took the data that you actually processed in the laboratory, took those vials and shipped them out to a professional laboratory, had them do a quality control check on it. what the statistics came back to say is that there is no discernable difference in the data generated in this laboratory by you the volunteers, and that data generated by the professionals. :21
FINDING ENOUGH VOLUNTEERS HASN?T BEEN A PROBLEM. APPARENTLY, THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO REALLY LIKE BUGS. ASK 16-YEAR-OLD KARA HUGHES OF SANBORNTON WHAT HER FAVORITE BUG IS, AND SHE DOESN?T HESITATE.
TAPE HUGHES I think I like the water penny the best because it was really rare, and we had to add it into the book. So it was cool. :07
FOR CLAUDETTE VERVILLE OF ALLENSTOWN, BUGS HAVE BEEN MORE OF AN ACQUIRED TASTE.
TAPE VERVILLE I haven?t always liked bugs, but as I was concerned about the water. And this is a good way of telling. And I just found it fascinating. And coming here and seeing this, I find it more fascinating all the time. So, it?s fun. I enjoy it. :16
30-YEARS AGO, THE MERRIMACK RANKED AMONG THE TOP TEN OF THE NATION?S MOST POLLUTED RIVERS. TODAY, IT?S CONSIDERED ONE OF THE CLEANEST RIVERS TO PASS THROUGH A METROPOLITAN AREA.
THE HOPE IS THAT ONE DAY, WHEN AT LEAST A DECADE OF DATA ARE COMPILED ? THE INFORMATION GLEANED FROM BUG NIGHT WILL BE USED TO MAKE RIVER MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS. FOR N-H-P-R NEWS, I?M DOUG MACPHERSON.
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