Project Background
Swann Fountain is located on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, residing in the center of Logan Circle, Philadelphia, PA. Installed in 1924, the fountain serves as an iconic landmark in the city of Philadelphia, and perhaps surprisingly, it also provides a constant scientific means of obtaining biodiversity and environmental data from the city.
Through the leadership of Isa Betancourt, Entomology Curatorial Assistant, at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, an ambitious project is in the making. For the past couple of years, Isa, and fellow researchers have been making the weekly trek to the fountain to collect insects trapped inthe water.
Insects serve as great bioindicators- this means that the presence or absence of certain insects indicate changes in the surrounding environment. The Swann Fountain Project hopes that these collected insects can tell us more about what insects are flying through Philadelphia and how the Philadelphia environment is changing through analysis of samples and comparison across years.
How We Collect
Academy scientists visit Swann Fountain every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from April through November. Using a fine-mesh net
they wade through the waters of the fountain to collect insects that have fallen inside and become trapped.
Once they have collected enough insects they store them in glass jars filled with alcohol. The insects are then sorted and some are pinned. Typically we sort into Order, then Family, than Genus and species.
We also make sure to count how many insects we've identified and record those numbers, this way we can see how the number of insects changes over time.
Swann Fountain is located on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, residing in the center of Logan Circle, Philadelphia, PA. Installed in 1924, the fountain serves as an iconic landmark in the city of Philadelphia, and perhaps surprisingly, it also provides a constant scientific means of obtaining biodiversity and environmental data from the city.
Through the leadership of Isa Betancourt, Entomology Curatorial Assistant, at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, an ambitious project is in the making. For the past couple of years, Isa, and fellow researchers have been making the weekly trek to the fountain to collect insects trapped inthe water.
Insects serve as great bioindicators- this means that the presence or absence of certain insects indicate changes in the surrounding environment. The Swann Fountain Project hopes that these collected insects can tell us more about what insects are flying through Philadelphia and how the Philadelphia environment is changing through analysis of samples and comparison across years.
How We Collect
Academy scientists visit Swann Fountain every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from April through November. Using a fine-mesh net
they wade through the waters of the fountain to collect insects that have fallen inside and become trapped.
Once they have collected enough insects they store them in glass jars filled with alcohol. The insects are then sorted and some are pinned. Typically we sort into Order, then Family, than Genus and species.
We also make sure to count how many insects we've identified and record those numbers, this way we can see how the number of insects changes over time.