1. Insects are and abundant and important class of animals that often compete with man for resources and habitat. Most insects, however, are not pests. Many species are extremely beneficial to man.

   1. Honeybees pollinate crops and provide honey and wax
   2. Silkworms provide silk
   3. Many people include insects as part of their diet.
   4. Insects serve as food for wildlife, including many birds and fish. They are an important part of the food chain
   5. As natural enemies of insect pests, parasites and predators keep pest populations in check

2. The study of insects, called entomologv, has provided much information about the process of evolution, genetics, animal behavior, ecology and physiology (chemical processes).

3. Methods of culturing/attracting insects for study (and profit!)

   1. Bee hives
   2. Ant farms
   3. Crickets, fish bait (catalpa moth caterpillars)
   4. Fruit flies and others
   5. Attracting insects: lights, carbon dioxide, pheromones, butterfly gardens, etc.)

4. Methods of collecting insects (NOTE: regulations apply regarding collecting insects from state and federal parks and endangered species. Be aware of no trespassing signs.)

   1. Hand picking or trapping in jars
   2. Traps
      1. Jars with the inside lips covered with vaseline and mineral oil mixture
      2. Yellow sticky traps (colored cardboard or cup coated with sticky substance like Tanglefoot®
      3. Pheromone or dry ice (carbon dioxide attractant) lure traps
      4. Malaise traps (tent-like traps) Insects fly into the netting and fly up into the "tent" where they can be removed by hand or with a collecting attachment.)
   3. Beating insects from resting perches onto card board, cloth, insides of umbrellas, etc.
   4. Butterfly (aerial) nets, sweep nets, aquatic nets
   5. Vacuum devises and aspirators
   6. Light traps, "black" light traps
   7. Berlese funnel (light hung over a funnel in which soil, litter is placed. Insects are forced to migrate down into a jar of alcohol underneath the funnel)

5. Methods of killing insects

   1. Killing jars charged with cyanide (old method), ethyl acetate, nail polish remover or other toxicant
   2. Placing insects in containers (jars, plastic bags) and freezing or heating (> 1350F) them
   3. "Pickling" soft-bodied insects
      1. Alcohol
      2. Preservative fluids (KAAD, etc.)
      3. Boiling or blanching larvae and then preserving them in alcohol
   4. Insecticides

6. Preserving insects

   1. Dry storage of hard-bodied insects
      1. Tightly closing collection boxes containing moth balls (paradichlorobenzine) or other toxicant to prevent book lice or dermestid beetles from eating specimens. Avoid moist storage conditions.
      2. Envelopes can store large numbers of specimens in small spaces until ready for study or display
      3. "Shadow boxes" need no preservative as long as insects are displayed in indirect light
   2. Liquid storage of preserved specimens in 70% alcohol or glycol
   3. Slide mounted insects

7. Displaying insects

   1. Dried insects can be relaxed and mounted or re-mounted on insect pins or in "shadow" boxes/ domes, etc. by placing dried specimens in a tight-fitting box containing a moistened paper towel for a few days. Fungal growth in the relaxing chamber can be prevented using a disinfectant substance like Lysol®, "relaxing fluid" or chlorocresol (sold commercially). Dried insects are brittle. Care should be taken to avoid jarring them.
   2. Mount insects according to conventions described in entomology text books or other literature
   3. Sunlight causes most insect colors to fade. Only insects that produce colors by prism effects caused by their exoskeletons (bodies) or scales do not fade over time.

American Biological Supply Company, 1330 Dillon Heights Ave., Baltimore, Maryland 21228

BioQuip Products, Inc. 2321 Gladwick Street, Rancho Dominguez, CA 90220
Phone: (310) 667-8800 Fax: (310) 667-8808 email: info@bioquip.com web: www.bioquip.com

Great Lakes IPM, 10220 Church Rd., NE, Vestaburg, Michigan 48891

The Butterfly Company, 51-17 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Far Rockaway, New York 11691

General:

The Insects Peter Farb. 1962. 192 pp. Life Nature Library, Time, Inc., New York.

The Common Insects of North America L. A. Swan & C.S. Papp. 1972. 750 pp. Harper & Row, Publishers, New York.

How to Know the Insects R.G. Bland & H.E. Jacques. 1978. 409 pp. Wm. C. Brown Company, Dubuque, Iowa.

An Introduction to the Study of Insects D.J. Borrer, C.A. Triplehorn & N.F. Johnson. 1989. 875 pp. Saunders College Publishing, Philadelphia.

Field Guides:

The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders. L. Milne & M. Milne. 1980. 989 pp. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

Golden Guide Series. H.S. Zim, Editor.

Peterson Field Guides. R.T. Peterson, Editor.

Simon & Schuster's Guide to Insects. R.H. Arnett, Jr. & R.L. Jacques, Jr. 1981. 512 pp. Simon & Shuster, New York.

The information given herein is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names is made with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by the Cooperative Extension Service is implied.

Educational programs conducted by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age or national origin.

BMD-3/94

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Last modified: March 18, 1998