Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) studying black flies (family Simuliidae) and their effect on avian wildlife quickly discovered the need for an efficient method for quantifying their captures. “After the first season of black fly sampling, we started working through the samples and opened up this one sample that was massive—like several thousand flies,” says Christine Parker, doctoral candidate in avian ecology at UIUC. “Between myself and a volunteer, we spent several hours counting flies in that single sample. It was that sample that prompted me to find a better way to count the flies.” (Photo by Morgan Meador)