The music of summer

By Tonia Moxley | The Roanoke Times

Photos by Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Aug. 16, 2018

BLACKSBURG — During the day, they’re white noise.

But at night, they are the music of summer, and a group of naturalists and their apprentices listened intently for them on a recent Wednesday evening at Heritage Park and Natural Area.

Virginia Tech entomologist Tom McAvoy led the field trip arranged by the New River Valley chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalists.

Ninety percent of the insects heard at night are males, McAvoy told the group of about 30 people. He garnered some laughs when acknowledging that it can be hard for older people to hear insect songs, including himself. He pointed out the calls of greater angle-wing katydid, the common katydid, the fall/spring field cricket and the tree cricket.

The talk was full of insect trivia, including the fact that some katydids never leave the tree in which they hatch.

These singing insects feed on tree roots, and overwinter at eggs laid in the canopy. They hatch in the spring.

McAvoy is one several Tech experts who leads courses for the master naturalist program.

The statewide volunteer program provides training, education and conservation services in schools and to the wider community. Members are required to take a 16-week training course that includes lectures and field trips given by subject area experts in life sciences and conservation, and to log annual community service hours. The New River Valley chapter has about 130 members.

Wednesday’s outing was part of the course, and drew a few of this year’s aspiring master naturalists, as well as experienced members.

“I’m a stream ecologist, so I know the aquatic [insects],” student Jamie Lau said. “But I know nothing about these,” she said, gesturing around the wooded path.

Originally from Indiana, Lau has taught conservation biology and related topics at Radford University for the past two years.

Virginia is so different from Indiana that Lau said she thought taking the master naturalist course would be a “great way to learn about the local ecology.”

It also helps her fulfill a continuing education requirement for her job, she said.

Tech geosciences doctoral student Sarah Ulrich said she took the naturalist course to “learn about living things, not just rocks” while in Virginia. Ulrich said she’s from Wisconsin.

So far, Ulrich said her favorite class was on fishes of the area, especially the river chub. The males of this small, blunt-nosed fish species build nests out of stones it collects along the river or stream bed. Ulrich said the nests are used by other fish species, some of which can’t build the structures themselves.

She said the chub can be spotted at work from bridges over streams and rivers.

Copyright 2018 The Roanoke Times