Introduction to Entomology Mini-Course
The first activity organized by Igapó aimed to train future biologists through a practical mini-course. The Introduction to Entomology Mini-Course took place over the weekend of July 1st and 2nd, along the banks of the Urubu River in Presidente Figueiredo.

Through collaboration with Natal Falls Camping, we gained access to different habitat types, including old secondary forest, várzea forest, and campinarana. Participants learned how to set up various traps and place them in the field, along with many other entomological techniques. They also used sweep nets to collect insects and a dip net to sample aquatic invertebrates (and occasionally, catfish). After lunch and a refreshing juice, they enjoyed the beautiful waterfall and the wide Urubu River, surrounded by dragonflies and a patrolling male Morpho butterfly defending its territory.

The Saturday night activities were two all-time favorites: the night hike and the light sheet. Despite the strong competition from the massive full moon, several moths, mantises, and beetles were drawn to the sheet. Visitors included various Pyralidae moths, which displayed strikingly diverse patterns and colors compared to their more familiar relatives, the pantry moths.

During the night hike, we spotted small, juvenile scorpions, visible only under a UV flashlight. One was smaller than a fingernail and quickly disappeared among similarly colored leaves. We also encountered tarantulas, a wide variety of funnel-web spiders, crickets, millipedes, and vinegaroons. The latter, though commonly mistaken for scorpions, belong to a different arachnid order, Uropygi. They possess glands that secrete acetic acid, giving off a characteristic vinegar-like smell—hence their name.

In summary, this was a highly productive and engaging activity, allowing participants to gain valuable field experience, fostering future projects and collaborations at the site, and yielding a great diversity of invertebrates through our sampling efforts. Despite the short time frame, both the suspended trap in the dense forest and the Malaise trap in the grassland proved to be highly effective.