Friends of Wachusett Mountain is a non-profit group dedicated to conservation,
environmental education and land stewardship at Wachusett Mountain.

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Terrestrial Insects and Spiders of Wachusett's Forests

Through a cooperative effort between the Friends of Wachusett Mountain students from regional colleges, local volunteers and expert taxonomists, we are beginning to develop a list of insects and spiders inhabiting the forests of Wachusett Mountain. The old-growth forest forest may provide unique ecological features and the invertebrate community could be particularly interesting and valuable to monitor from season to season, year to year, or even decade to decade.

The most commonly found groups found so far are ground beetles (Carabidae), camel crickets (Rhaphidophoridae), and spiders (Araneae). Undergraduate students from Fitchburg State College and Mount Wachusett College have been assisting with field work and sorting of the various groups as part of independent studies for college credit. By focusing on these groups, students can gain experience in field techniques, quantified sampling, and statistical analysis. Additionally, experts on identification of each order of invertebrates (taxonomists) from across the US have been very helpful in identifying each group to species.

Although this project is only on its second year, we are off to a great start in building a reference collection that can be used in the future to efficiently identify specimens without having to consult experts every time.

The Friends of Wachusett Mountain is grateful to all that have helped so far, with a special thanks to the taxonomists who have provided the real scientific backing to this project:

Karen Ober, Ph.D., The College of the Holy Cross, Worcester (beetles)
Theodore Cohn, Ph.D., University of San Diego and University of Michigan (camel crickets)
Andrew McKenna-Foster, graduate student, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay (spiders)
Aaron Ellison, Ph.D., Harvard Forest (ants)

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Mailing address: Friends of Wachusett Mountain, P.O. Box 301, Princeton, MA 01541-0301.
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