Parasitoid Wasps at the Canadian National Collection of Insects (CNC)
In February 2017, I started a co-op position at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in the department of entomology. I had always been fascinated by insects and was excited to get the chance to further learn about insects and increase my understanding and passion for the subject. I was working with Hymenoptera (the insect order containing bees, wasps, sawflies, and ants), and more specifically, Microgastrinae, a subfamily of parasitoid wasps that parasitise Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths).
My co-op started off smoothly and soon became the part of my day I looked forward to. I was databasing specimens, georeferencing records, and curating the Microgastrinae collection. I was so invested in what I was doing that I started working from home, developing a program to facilitate the annotation of specimen photos. I was soon offered a full-time paid position from May to August in 2017. Many projects were tackled during that summer. I was taking photos of specimens with a digital microscope and trained in the identification of Microgastrinae genera. Of these projects, two that took the most time and effort were my contributions to two scientific papers dealing with Microgastrinae species. One regarded a species of potential importance in the biological control of a pest of amaranth (an ornamental and agricultural plant cultivated throughout the world), and the other regarded species of Microgastrinae in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Greenland.
It was an amazing experience to help collect data and edit these papers, and I've learned valuable information about entomology and the research world throughout the process. One of the most important ideas that I am taking away from this experience is that insects are an essential class that play vital roles within their respective ecosystems. They also play a critical role in terms of commercial agriculture. Their ecological and economic importance are only two reasons why the research done in the field of entomology can be of vital importance.
