24 Jul Mothapalooza and Court

Hi! I have an exciting thing going on next week. The second annual Mothapalooza will be happening on July 28th when the local moth expert Eric Metzler, who has been doing research in White Sands for many years, will be giving a talk on what he has found out here. I am in charge of the science fair, so I’ll be talking about the Yucca moth that pollinates the Soaptree Yucca plant that is a staple to the New Mexican desert. I will be showing the little larvae that grow up inside of the fruit of this plant. I have not cut one open yet to see what it’s like, but it should be cool and kind of gross at the same time. We will also be doing sheeting where we’ll put out white sheets and lights, then wait for the moths to come so we can show the public the large variety here. There are about 50 new species that Eric has found here at White Sands alone! Also, tomorrow I get to go to Las Cruces and join one of the Law Enforcement officers in their day of court for the tickets that they had written in the past month. I have never been to a federal court house, so it’ll be new and hopefully I’ll get a better understanding of how a court works. Some new and cools things are around and the rain is also getting pretty intense, but it’s beautiful to see the lightning over the dunes. ~Angelica