Collecting a Variety of Insects
If you collect in only a few different
places during the day and use the same collecting techniques, it may be hard to
find enough variety of the insects you want for your collection. Look for
insects in a variety of locations.
- In the air for flying insects on warm days.
- On a wide variety of vegetation, both day and night.
- Around street lights, porch lights, and study lamps.
- In woodpiles and rotting logs.
- In the soil.
- On (or in) fresh or decaying fruit.
- On domestic animals (parasitic insects, such as fleas and lice).
- Along the edges of rivers, streams, lakes, or ponds and in the
water.
- In buildings--windows, flour bins, cereal packages, closets, or
boxes where clothing and old papers are stored.
As you can see, insects live in all kinds
of places. Some are a real challenge to capture while others move slowly enough
to be picked up by hand and put directly into a killing jar. If you think the
insect may bite or sting, gently tap it into the jar with a twig, or use
tweezers to pick it up. You will need an insect net for fast-moving insects.
An insect net, one of the optional things
to make for this project, can be used in a variety of ways. You can use the net
to scoop insects out of the air as they fly by, or you can sweep the net
through weeds and flowers to catch whatever is hidden there. Some insects
"play possum" when disturbed. To catch them, hold your
net under plants and shake the insects off into the net.
Be
very careful when catching stinging or biting insects. Try this special technique. Sweep the insect into
the net and, with a quick jerk, force it to the bottom of the bag. Then grasp
one hand around the bag just above the captured insect. Put the end of the bag
with the insect into the killing jar. Place the jar lid over the mouth of the
jar as tightly as you can, and wait until the insect becomes still. Then take
the end of the bag out of the killing jar, quickly remove the stunned insect,
and put it back into the killing jar.
Collecting moths and butterflies without
damaging them requires special care. To keep these insects from escaping after
being netted, whip the net so the insect goes to the bottom of the bag. Keep
the insect trapped in the bottom of the bag by giving the net a flip so the bag
bottom rests across the loop. Then pinch the thorax of the insect while it is
still in the net. This will stun the moth or butterfly and keep it from beating
the scales off its wings when it is put in the killing jar.
Many types of insects that cannot be found
during the day are attracted to lights at night. Some insects will come to
lights early in the evening, and others may come very late. The color of the
light also affects the attraction of insects. A black light (ultraviolet) is
more attractive to a greater variety of insects than lights of other types. You
can also devise traps to collect insects when you are not at the light. These
ideas may be useful in creating a varied and complete display:
· Making and using light traps
· Make an aquatic collecting net.
Making a Killing Jar
You will need to kill the live insects you
capture before putting them into your collection. The killing method should be
quick and as painless as possible. Also, the killing method should not ruin the
insect's appearance. A killing jar that can be carried with you is handy for
doing this. You should prepare one before going out to collect.
Any clear, wide-mouthed, plastic jar with
a tight screw-cap lid can be used to make a killing
jar. A pint-size jar (a peanut butter jar works well) is easy to carry and will
be big enough to hold large insects. You can make larger or smaller killing
jars to suit yourself.
After selecting a jar, cut discs of blotter or
newspaper to fit snugly into the bottom of the jar. A stack of discs 1/2-inch
high is enough.
When you want to use the killing jar, pour
91% rubbing alcohol onto the paper discs. Pour off any fluid that is not
absorbed by the paper. Then put a few narrow strips of tissue paper in the jar.
The tissue paper helps absorb moisture and gives the insects a place to hide.
When insects are hiding, they do not thrash around and damage themselves so
much.
Label the killing jar: INSECT KILLING JAR:
CONTAINS RUBBING ALCOHOL.
If you are near home, you can collect
insects in a plain jar and then put the jar in the freezer to kill the insects.
They will be knocked out after a few minutes, but keep them in the freezer for
at least an hour. If you take them out too soon they may revive after you have
pinned them.
Some insects, like beetles and grasshoppers,
can be drowned in four or five seconds in warm soapy water without spoiling
their appearance. This is not a good killing method for hairy or scaly insects
or small, delicate ones because they will still look soggy even after they have
dried.
Identifying your Insects
Identify your insects
using a key or a field guide. Observe your insect's physical appearance. Write
down your observations, including the number of body sections, number of legs,
body coloring and existence of pincers. Using the book, key, or website,
compare your insect's appearance with the illustrations and descriptions of insects
in your resource. Resources you should
consider using include books and guides from the public library or bookstore,
and may include some websites:
- Borror, D.J. and R.E. White. A
Field Guide to the Insects.
- Covell, C.V. Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Moths.
- Farrand, J., Jr. The Audubon Society Pocket Guide to
Familiar Insects and Spiders.
- Feltwell, J. Butterflies of
- Klots, A.B. A Field Guide to Butterflies.
- Milne, L. and M. Milne. Audubon Society Pocket Guide to North
American Insects and Spiders.
- Walton, R.K. The Audubon Society Pocket Guide to
Familiar Butterflies of
- White, R.E. Peterson Field Guide to Beetles.
- National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of
- Gary A. Dunn and Dianna K. Dunn. Insect
Identification Guide. Milliken Publishing Company, ISBN #1-55863-095-3
- Edward P. Ortleb and
Richard Cadice. Insects.
- Links
to websites that we have
identified as being valuable are at http://www.netvibes.com/sanmccarron#Insects
Preserving Duplicate
Specimens
When you are collecting
your insects, you must collect duplicate specimens and preserve them in a jar
with 91% rubbing alcohol. All
duplicates may be kept in the same jar. Make sure the alcohol covers the insects
completely. These specimens will be used later in the year for additional
phylogenic, evolutionary, and other work. Label this jar clearly with your name
and dates of collection. You will need
10 additional insects for this portion of the assignment. Make sure you have duplicate insects.
Pinning Insects
You should prepare your insect specimens
as soon as possible after You should prepare your insect specimens as soon as
possible after collection because after a day, the insects may become dry and
brittle, and parts of the insect may break off when you try to pin them. This
means putting them on insect pins. You can begin pinning the insects after they
have been in the killing jar for about 20 minutes. If you take them out of the
killing jar too soon they may revive after you have pinned them.
Gently run the pin through the thorax of
the insect a little to the right of the midline of the body. Illustrations of
the correct spot to insert the pin follow. Leave about 1/4-inch of the pin
visible above the specimen. This will be enough of a handle to pick up the
specimen without touching the insect. There will be enough room on the pin
below the insect to add labels. Work carefully and try to get the insect level
on the pin so it is not tipped from front to back or from side to side.
The illustrations below are for review of
the special spots for pinning some common insects. Notice that even though the
pin appears to go through a different spot on different insects, the pin always
goes through the thorax a little to the right of the mid line.
BEE--Pin bees, wasps, flies, dragonflies and other insects with similar
wings through the thorax between the bases of the wings.
TRUE BUGS--Pin true bugs through the right comer of the scutellum. The scutellum is a
triangular area with the point of the triangle pointing to the rear. In stink
bugs the scutellum is large, but in other bugs it may
be quite small.
BEETLES--Pin beetles to the right of the center line so
that the pin emerges from the underside of the insect between the middle and
hind legs of the right side. Do not pin so far back that the pin comes through
the abdomen.
GRASSHOPPERS--Pin grasshoppers so that the pin emerges between
the middle and hind legs of the right side. Insert the pin near the right hind
margin of the pronotum. The pronotum
is the saddle-shaped structure of the thorax just behind the head.
Small, delicate insects
may be impossible to pin in the conventional way with standard sized insect
pins. You can solve this problem by using the card point pinning technique
explained below. Prepare several card points on pins in advance so they are
ready when you want to mount a small insect.
- Select some heavy paper, such as a file card, and cut triangular
card points to the dimensions as shown in Figure A.
- Put an insect pin through the base of the card point. Use a
pinning block as shown in Figure B to position the card point on the pin.
- With a pair of tweezers, bend down the tip of the card point as
shown in Figure C.
- Put a tiny drop of glue on the bent down tip of the card point,
and touch the glue drop to the right side of the insect as shown in Figure
D. Do not use so much glue that the insect becomes totally embedded in it.
When you lift up the pin, the insect should be level and topside up as
shown in Figure E.
To properly pin butterflies and moths, follow
these additional steps. If the wing length of moths or butterflies is one inch
or more, the wings should be spread. Once the insect is pinned through the
body, position the wings as shown with a spreading board or with two blocks of StyrofoamTM, each twice as long as the butterfly
or moth and about the same height as the insect on the pin, placed on either
side of the insect. The wings should be gently pulled into place with an insect
pin placed behind a large wing vein. The back margins of the front wings should
be perpendicular to the insect's body, with just a slight notch between the
front and back wings. Narrow strips of paper placed over the wings will hold
the wings in place (the strips of paper should be pinned to the spreading board
as well). Depending on the moisture in the air, it may take up to a week for
the wings to completely dry in place.
Displaying Insects
1.
Your insects
must be displayed in a box you construct. Directions for making
a standard display box for exhibiting insects are given here. You may
make a display case that varies from these instructions, but it should be
approximately 17” x 24” in size, have a clear cover that can open, and be no
deeper than 3 ˝ “.
2.
Insects must
be arranged in the box so that the short sides of the box are the right and
left sides.
3.
Insects must
be in vertical columns with the head of each insect toward the front (top) of
the box.
4.
All insects of
the same order must be grouped together into one series, but they may continue
into more than one column. In other words, insects in the same order should not
be scattered in the box and separated from each other by insects of other
orders.
5.
The largest
insect of an order must be placed first in that order series; the rest should
be placed according to decreasing size.
6.
Labels must
conform to the specifications shown in the figure below. Note that label 1
includes location the insect was collected from, date collected, and the person
who collected the insect. Label 2 identifies the common name of the insect.
MA Collected 21 Jun 2009 Collected by Jane Doe COMMON
NAME Water Strider
7.
See that the
order labels lie flat on the bottom of the box in front of the first insect in
the order series. It should be held in place with two common straight pins. If
the series continues into the next column, label the continued column also. If
an order series ends in the middle of a column, you may start the next order
series right after it.
8.
The
"common name" labels rest on the bottom of the box and are held in
place by the specimen pins. The pin should go through the dot on the right side
of the label, causing the label to jut to the left from the pin. If the insect
is large and blocks the view of the common name label, the label may be placed
on a separate pin close after the insect. Every insect should have a common
name label whether anything is written on it or not.
9.
Do not exceed
the minimum requirements to the extent that insects are jammed in a messy way
in the box. If you have a lot of insects, it is best to choose only the best
specimens to make a good-looking, uncrowded display.
10.
A
"date-locality" label must be on the pin of each specimen. The pin
should go through the dot at the center of the label. The label should be aligned
parallel to the insect's body so it can be read from the left side of the
collection. Keep the labels at a uniform height on the pins.
11.
Every insect
in the collection should be different, either a different species or a
different form of the same species. (Males and females of the same species
often look slightly different, so you can use a male and a female as different
insects.)
12.
Damaged or
poorly pinned insects detract from the appearance of your collection and will
count against your display score. Replace such specimens if you can. However,
if a damaged insect is your only representative of that order, or if you need
the insect to meet the minimum number of insects, then you should include it in
your display collection.
Insect Collection Catalog
The insect
collection catalog shall accompany your collection when it is turned in. The
attached hard-copy is available as a
Word document. It is recommended that you fill this in electronically.
Resource
This document essentially
contains materials from:
"Making an insect Collection." Welcome to the