This week was spent taking tons of pictures of interesting bugs, in hopes to measure their spines and femurs. The insect in the first picture is unindentified- I suspect it might be a new species because of the lack of visual matches or written descriptions that match it. This week I also visited for the first time the University's hemipteran collection- It is kept in a camphor-smelling, temperature and humidity controlled room that houses insects starting from the 1950's. I was surprised to learn that collection was started by Father Moure, who also funded the Department of Zoology at UFPR. Moure was an entomologist who was very passionate about bees, which was evident in the size of the Hymenopteran collection. He paid dozens of entomologists to collect and bring to the University insect specimens from all over the country and the world. The collection now has close to seven million insects, and over 600 holotypes! My favorite insects I saw there were the Membracids, in the fourth picture. 

As it neared the end of the week, we came upon a holiday, which are taken seriously by brazilians. I was out of the lab from Thursday to Sunday, and during that time I explored a few different spots in the city- notably Downtown Curitiba and the 24 hour street, a famous touristic destination in the city. On Saturday it was my mentor's wife's birthday, which was celebrated as an Arraia, a party originated in the North of the country with characteristic foods such as cooked corn, hominy, hot dogs, and many other foods.