?Due to an increased interest in this arthropod group,
the IPM Initiative at the Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology hosted
a Collembola collection and identification workshop. This understudied group is
being used more frequently as model organisms in studies ranging from
agriculture and ecological indicators of soil health to physiological studies.
Dr. Charlene Janion-Scheepers, whom is based at Iziko South African Museum,
presented the workshop.
Participants had the opportunity to spend two
days in the field practising different collection techniques, while they spend
another two days in the laboratory acquiring skills in sample processing and
identification of species. Participants have formed a network to exchange
information, thereby expanding the taxonomic and distribution data of
Collembola of South Africa.
