We always spend the end of the year summarizing the data collected in our database for collecting data on the insects of Serbia „Alciphron“, preparing awards for database users and improving the database. In the last months of 2020, a lot of work was done by our programmer – Nebojša Horvat Cinger, and the database is now more visible on Google, and many background parts have been improved.
Awards for hardworking contributors, calendar and memory game
The year 2020 began with a new collaboration and a new project called “Viki loves longhorn beetles”, funded by Wikimedia Serbia. The ultimate goals of the project are to enrich Wikipedia with texts and photos of Serbian beetles. Also, one of the goals is to raise the level of students’ knowledge of longhorn beetles and training for further independent work in the field and the development of new project ideas. By the end of the year, Wikimedia content will be enriched with over 400 photos and 150 texts on Serbian beetles, and a total of 10 students have gone through field training.
Students’ training
The beginning of the field season has been slightly postponed this year due to the epidemiological situation in the country, but we have certainly been active in that field and managed to realize several research projects. During the spring, the action “Insects of my isolation” was organized, when we started a competition in collecting data on insects from our own backyards, and the most active were awarded. On this occasion, over 200 data were collected in one day.
Cooperation with PE For the Protection and Improvement of the Environment in the City of Obrenovac has continued, where we have continued the research of selected groups of insects in the area of the Natural Monument “Obrenovački Zabran“. Then, research continued in the areas Landscape of Outstanding Features “Vlasina“, Landscape of Outstanding Features “Ovčarsko-kablarka klisura” and in Special Nature Reserve “Peštersko polje“, which is the result of successful cooperation with the Tourist Organization of Surdulica, Čačak and Sjenica. This year, we started cooperation with the manager of the Special Nature Reserve “Kraljevac” – Sport Fishing Association “Deliblatsko jezero”. An agreement on business and technical cooperation with the public institution “Nature Reserves” Zrenjanin was also signed. As usual, insects have been the focus of our research in all areas. Additional field actions were organized throughout Serbia, some of the visited sites: Pčinja, Dimitrovgrad, Bosilegrad, Stara planina, Besna Kobila, Fruška gora, wetlands of the lower Tisa, etc.
Field work and Myrrha octodecimguttata
Aethes triangulana and Pogonocherus hispidus
Leptotes pirithous
The project started at the end of 2019 called “True Bugs of Halophytic Habitats in Vojvodina (Part III) – Elaboration of Rapid Assessment and Monitoring of Pannonian Saline Grasslands Based on True Bugs” continued this year and final activities are expected by the end of March 2021. Many localities throughout Vojvodina were visited, a huge amount of data was collected on the true bugs of saline habitats, as well as on the habitats itself, and part of the results were published in scientific papers. The activities are coordinated by Jelena Šeat, and the project is financed by the Rufford Foundation from Great Britain.
Phimodera flori and Crypsinus angustatus
We were also part of the week of eco-networking, we participated in the part dedicated to the Natura 2000 Resource center of Serbia network. The organizers were the Young Researchers of Serbia and within the program “Eco-system: Support to reforms in environmental protection”. The goal of the entire program is networking within the sector, and the goal of the network of which we are a part is the preservation of biological diversity on the territory of Serbia through the application of European legislation.
The continuation of popular science projects is planned for next year, new collaborations have been agreed and we will certainly expand the list of sites where insect research will be done.
