![]() Insect-hunting with the former Harvard curator of entomology, E.O. The amber is like a time capsule, says Farrell, that will allow him to extend the reach of his research far into the past. Coincidentally, it is abundant with the remains of prehistoric insectsmostly ants and beetlestrapped in amber, the fossilized sap of ancient plants. Due partly to the diversity of habitats supported by this unusual range of topography and temperature, and partly to its great ageabout 40 million yearsthe island, which encompasses both Haiti and the Dominican Republic, is one of the richest troves of life on the planet. Frost can touch the ground at night, and farmers grow lettuce and other cool-weather crops. At sea level, the gentle trade winds that stir the leaves of banana and mango trees hold the mercury steady at 82 degrees but in the highlands the air is much cooler. Older than the Hawai'ian or Galápagos Islands, Hispaniola rises abruptly from the Caribbean to a mountainous interior. For a variety of reasons, this particular island is uniquely suited for such study. He hopes that by working on an island, with its discrete boundaries and definable flora and fauna, he can learn things that may eventually help scientists understand other, more complex, living systems worldwide. Building on that, Farrell, a professor of biology, hopes to tease out how the ecosystem here evolved, to fathom how various insects came to feed on the plants they do, and to learn how those insects provide food for other species higher up the food chainall in order to understand the complicated web of interdependencies that has evolved here. That work is expected to double the number of known species on the island. The research that has brought Farrell to the cloud forest is part of an effort to document all species of plants and animals on the island of Hispaniola. Farrell with his assailant, the rare hardwood-feeding beetle Prionus aurepilosus (there were just two specimens among all Dominican collections). ![]()
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