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    Methods of Insect Collection

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    Teflon Slim
    This document discusses various methods for collecting insects including Berlese funnels, light traps, pitfall traps, yellow pan traps, hand netting and flight intercept traps. The timing and locations for collecting depends on the types of insects targeted. Methods range from simple to more advanced scientific techniques.

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    Methods of Insect Collection

    Uploaded by

    Teflon Slim
    48 views2 pages
    This document discusses various methods for collecting insects including Berlese funnels, light traps, pitfall traps, yellow pan traps, hand netting and flight intercept traps. The timing and locations for collecting depends on the types of insects targeted. Methods range from simple to more advanced scientific techniques.

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    Insect Collection

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    This document discusses various methods for collecting insects including Berlese funnels, light traps, pitfall traps, yellow pan traps, hand netting and flight intercept traps. The timing and locations for collecting depends on the types of insects targeted. Methods range from simple to more advanced scientific techniques.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    48 views2 pages

    Methods of Insect Collection

    Uploaded by

    Teflon Slim
    This document discusses various methods for collecting insects including Berlese funnels, light traps, pitfall traps, yellow pan traps, hand netting and flight intercept traps. The timing and locations for collecting depends on the types of insects targeted. Methods range from simple to more advanced scientific techniques.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    Fact Sheet Collecting insects

    There are many methods for collecting insects, most Flight intercept traps
    of which involve simple apparatus and can be done by
    amateur collectors. Many insects fly in a random fashion just above the
    forest floor and fall to the ground when they collide
    The key to successful collecting is the right timing. with a vertical object. Flight intercept traps utilize this
    Insect collecting is a seasonal business and the best behaviour to trap insects. A vertical screen of
    time is during the warmer months from September to transparent plastic, such as transparent kitchen film is
    April. stretched between two stakes and a trough (or row of
    ice cream containers) of preservative fluid (propylene
    Where you look for insects depends on the types of glycol) is arranged below its bottom edge. These traps
    insects you wish to catch. work best on a long-term basis but yield surprising
    catches of insects not normally caught by other
    • flowers for bees and butterflies
    methods. They are most effective at trapping slow-
    • freshwater ponds and streams for flying insects such as beetles, cockroaches and
    dragonflies, caddis flies and may flies crickets.

    • cow paddocks for dung beetles

    • leaf litter for slaters and ants.

    Methods of collecting insects:


    Berlese funnels
    These are devices to drive insects and other
    arthropods out of samples of leaf litter. They work by
    spreading the litter on a mesh screen in a large funnel
    with a hot electric bulb suspended above the litter. The
    combination of heat, light and gradual desiccation
    slowly drives the creatures out until they drop into a
    container below the funnel. You can make a Berlese
    funnel from a plastic soft drink bottle. Cut the bottom
    off and turn the bottle upside down. Place a circle of Hand netting
    small wire mesh in the bottle and fill the mesh with leaf
    litter. Suspend the funnel over a container of water Large flying insects such as butterflies, wasps and
    with a squirt of detergent in it. Place an electric light flies can be collected individually by a long handled
    bulb above the leaf litter. The heat will cause the insect net. These can also be swept over foliage for
    insects to drop into the water. many small insects which rest on foliage and are
    difficult to see.
    An example of leaf litter traps used in a scientific
    investigation can be found in the Terrestrial
    Invertebrate Status Review of Brisbane.
    Light traps
    Many night-flying insects are attracted to light. A
    strong light bulb hung in front of a vertical white sheet
    near bushland will yield a great range of insects which
    can be picked directly from the sheet when they come
    to rest. An ultra-violet light bulb will increase the catch
    markedly. For a simple overnight trap a bulb can be
    suspended over a dish of detergent water.

    Yellow pan traps


    It has been shown that many small day-active insects
    are attracted to the colour yellow. This trapping
    method uses small yellow dishes filled with water to
    which detergent has been added. The dishes are
    placed on the ground in conspicuous places in the
    morning. When flying insects land on the surface of
    the water they rapidly sink and drown. At the end of
    the day, the water is strained through a fine sieve and
    the specimens are retrieved.

    Pitfall traps
    These traps consist of suitable wide-mouthed
    containers sunk in the soil so their opening is flush
    with the ground surface. Containers ranging from
    disposable plastic cups to ice cream containers or
    plastic buckets are suitable. They can be used dry or
    with water and a squirt of detergent added. The
    detergent ensures that insects sink and drown rapidly
    when they fall into the trap. Pitfall traps collect
    invertebrates which walk over the ground surface,
    especially beetles, spiders, ants and myriapods.

    An example of pitfall traps used in a scientific


    investigation can be found in the Terrestrial
    Invertebrate Status Review of Brisbane.

    qmlearning 00003

    © Queensland Museum 2005

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