Veronica Crump – Entomology Intern

My name is Veronica Crump, and I am the Entomology Intern here at Reiman Gardens for the summer. I’m an Animal Ecology major and an Entomology minor. I’ve been at work for a whole month now and am learning more and more every day and am starting to get comfortable with my duties here in the Christina Reiman Butterfly Wing and in our butterfly rearing lab. Those duties include being a docent in our Wing, watering in our greenhouse, releasing newly emerged butterflies twice a day, doing day to day cleaning of the emergence chambers, and so much more.

My absolute favorite part of the summer so far has been watching the butterflies emerge from their pupae and expand their wings and dry out, then getting to relocate them to their new home in the Wing.

I have two years left here at Iowa State, and hope to work in an Insect Zoo or Butterfly Wing after I graduate, so having my internship here is really a dream come true!

If you stop into Reiman Gardens you may see me busy at work in the lab or in the Wing but please feel free to introduce yourself and talk butterflies!