One of the greatest pleasures I’ve had in my affiliation with Friends of Dragon Run is accompanying various scientists on treks over our properties and down the river to study and inventory the flora and fauna of the area. What wonderful treasures they find and how patient they are to explain life histories and strange habits of the critters and plants that inhabit the watershed. I’ve followed botanists, ornithologists, herpetologists, wetlands ecologists and a host of other experts, but one of my favorites is retired entomologist Dr. Oliver Flint of the Smithsonian Institute and his wife Carole.

I’ve trudged along the riverbanks of both Mascot and Big Island with “Ollie” and Carole as they diligently search for caddisflies and other day-flying insects in the thick vegetation along the shores. Mosquitoes hum around us, dragonflies zoom by, deer flies bite us, but Ollie never seems to notice these inconveniences as his sharp eyes find another caddisfly and he swoops it into his net.

Dr. Flint is a leading expert on caddisflies and has traveled the world over looking for these elusive insects. On his forays to the Dragon, the caddisfly is his main quarry, but he also collects and identifies many other types of insects. On at least two occasions, he has set up “moth sheets” and sampled the wide variety of those night creatures which flit and flutter through the dark woods along the shores of the Dragon.

Now, I have to admit, it’s hard for me to detect the “beauty” of a caddisfly. To my eye, they are pretty nondescript critters, and one looks like another to me. Even Ollie cannot tell for sure if he has captured a new species, even though he can usually tell, after studying the insect with a hand lens, whether it is a male or female. The differences are so minute that the specimen must be studied under a dissecting microscope to determine its true identity. I confess I quickly lose interest in the chase when I can’t figure out which is what, and I find my eyes straying to other more recognizable delights such as the flashy blue-green iridescence of the Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly or the giant compound eyes of Slaty-blue Skimmer Dragonfly.

The Flints first came to Dragon Run in 1987. They didn’t visit again until 2000 when they made three trips to the area. Since 2002, they have made collection trips every year, mostly in May, June, and September. Those early summer months are usually the most “buggy” and yield the best results.

Needless to say, when wandering through thick, hot, humid vegetation in the daytime or hanging around the mercury vapor lights and “black lights” at night, one does tend to inhale or accidentally swallow more than a few of Ollie’s winged friends. But it’s all in a day’s work and well worth it to see the pleased faces of Ollie and Carole as they store their treasured catches in specimen jars to take back to DC for identification.

One of the requests we make of visiting scientists and students using our properties is to provide Friends of Dragon Run with a copy of the results of their studies. Dr Flint’s last report to us includes all the insects he has found on Dragon Run and covers seven pages. He lists 65 species in all. Some are new to the Coastal Plain, a couple are new to Virginia. One of the reasons for these exclusive finds is that very little work has been done on insects in this area, so finding new species is quite a strong possibility and one of the aspects that keeps drawing Ollie and Carole back to the Dragon year after year.

We salute Ollie and the many scientists like him. These quiet, dedicated men and women quietly go forth into the field, enduring all sorts of discomforts and harsh conditions simply to further our knowledge of the world around us. Imagine all the things we wouldn’t know if it weren’t for people like Ollie and Carole who are always ready to explore the magic of our natural world. -