Insect Collecting Can Be Fun!

By Anonymous -
Insect Collecting Can Be Fun! 
By: Abigail Chitwood and Randy Williams 
To many people, the thought of collecting insects seems outlandish and unimportant.
But when you take a closer look, collecting insects is not only important to discover more
about them but it can also be pretty fun. I went into this class wondering, how on Earth do
people collect insects? As it turns out there are many resources and tools people can use
when collecting various types of insects. When collecting insects, one must start with finding
a good place to search for insects. Insects are almost always all around us. 
Using envelopes to collect butterflies.



When going out on a collecting
trip, going to an open field, a
park, or a grassy area near a
lake can provide the most
abundant amount of insects for
collecting. The larger the area
you are searching, the greater
diversity of insects you will find.
But you do not always have to go
out to a park or lake to find
insects. As there are insects all
over, you can simply go into your
backyard or front yard and easily
locate several different species of
insects. 


It is important when going to look for insects that you bring a field guide and notebook with
you. The field guide will help you in doing some basic identification of the insects you collect.
You will probably only get to the order level of the insect, but it is a start. Also, have a field
notebook can be very helpful as well. By keeping a log of the insects you are collecting it will
help you keep them straight when you get back to the lab for further identification. In this
notebook, you can write down the description of each insect you collect, any behaviors you
might have noticed while collecting it, what day it was that you found it, where you found the
insect, and even what the weather was like on the day you collected it. 
An aspirator with a small moth inside.
https://6legs2many.wordpress.com/techniques/tools-for-insect-collecting/

When we go into the field to search for insects we take many different kinds of tools to catch
and also contain them. Whenever we are searching for small insects we take a tool called
an aspirator. It connects to the container around with two pipes one long to suck up the
insects and one short to attach to a long tube to suck the bug up into the container. Then you
have to carefully attach the lid to it fast so the insects can’t get out after that you just attach
another container to it and repeat the same thing over and over again until you have enough
insects to take back and freeze then after a day or so you take them out to pin them. 

Using a sweep net to collect in tall grass.
https://6legs2many.wordpress.com/techniques/tools-for-insect-collecting/
Another tool we
take are three
different kinds of
nets called sweep,
aerial, and aquatic
nets. It just
depends on where
we go on which net
we will take
because obviously
we are not going to
take the aquatic net
into the fields, just
near water but
usually we go into the fields with the sweep and aerial nets.
We use the sweep net to sweep through the thick grass to catch any bugs that are lying up
there because it is a thicker material so it won’t break easily. We use the aerial net to catch
insects like butterflies, dragonflies, wasps, grasshoppers sometimes and other flying insects.
Then after catching those depending on which ones we are trying to contain depends on
what we are going to use to contain that insect, for grasshoppers, wasps, dragonflies and
any small flying insects we use larger jars so they have a little bit more room and aren’t
crushed but for butterflies we use these little kind of see through envelopes to hold them in
so their wings stay intact and don’t lose any color or shape to it, after that we pin all of the
insects besides the butterflies because we put them on the spreading board to spread their
wings with paper pinning them down then a day or so later come back and pin them then
they will be spread out.

If you go out and collect insects making sure you are prepared with the proper equipment is
the key to having the best experience possible. Having the right nets, field guide, aspirator,
and notebook can make a world of difference when it comes to your collecting experience.
Plus who knows, you might even spot a butterfly and get an adrenaline while chasing it with
you aerial net!
References: 


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