South Dakota Trip (Aberdeen) - September 2025

South Dakota

Rhinusa Grids

Mecinus Transects

First half of the second trip of 2025 to South Dakota to collect data from R. pilosa grids and M. janthinus transects.

Published

August 31, 2025

Schaunaman Ranch

Weather

🌦️ High 70s, cloudy, some drizzle in the morning. Sooooo many mosquitos 🦟.

Eric and I left Bozeman at 6:30 AM on Sunday, August 31, arriving in Aberdeen at 5:00 PM. On Monday, September 1, we visited the Schaunaman Ranch to get data from our Rhinusa pilosa grids and M. janthinus transects.

Rhinusa Grids

No galls in the exclosure or control
Exclosure toadflax was sparse and thin in structure
Both cameras had the metal covers torn off (possibly from wind)
Observed more red stems, unclear cause
Grass was dense, making roadhairs hard to find
Mosquitos were very bad in the morning, improved later
Foggy in the morning
Replaced open control camera due to water ingress
No issues with data loggers; no battery replacements
Plant density higher in control than exclosure
Released 600 insects in both control and exclosure

Transects

Some signs of external feeding
No live insects; Eric noted potential internal feeding by splitting a few stems
Added orange stakes on the corn-side transects within bushes
Non-corn-side transects hard to locate; placed metal posts at start of each line
Chris Hemen released 600 insects on non-corn side