Hundreds of Macroinvertebrates

"How many dead animals can people bring to the Museum this month?" I began to question whether it was pandemic cleaning that was driving so many community members to deposit natural history items at our back door, or just a (un)happy coincidence. All spring we have been receiving frozen dead birds, nests, egg shells, and then a big tote bin. What could possibly be hidden in there? 

This northern mole cricket (Neocurtilla sp.) can be found in wet,
sandy or muddy soil near ponds and streams beginning in July. 

Even though I had already been forwarded a message about some macroinvertebrates being dropped off, I wasn't quite sure what kind of package to expect. These aquatic insect larvae, worms, snails, freshwater crustaceans, and the like are typically found in the bottoms of our local ponds and streams. So, they'd either have to be packaged in fluid or would have been dried out. Because they are specially adapted for life underwater, these spineless animals look and behave otherworldly. Observing them in their natural state--wet--really highlights those strange physical modifications. 

I grabbed either side and pivoted the tote up onto a table to examine the contents. After unpacking donated equipment and identification books, two trays worth of macroinvertebrates appeared. Both trays held about a hundred glass vials containing labeled specimens. The donation turned out to be well packaged and incredibly valuable. 

Now that staff and volunteers have begun to work in the office again, I look forward to investigating each container. If these were instead two hundred dead birds, that would be a different story!