.jpg "Discover Entomology at Texas A&M University")
Making an Insect Collection
by William Godwin, Texas A&M University, Dept. of EntomologyInsects may be found in almost every corner of our environment. We even have difficulty excluding them from places like our homes and businesses. Some species hinder the progress of humanity by eating our food, or furniture, or by transmitting diseases like malaria. Others are useful as pollinators, or predators of pests. The great majority may be neither harmful nor directly beneficial, but they are truly fascinating. You may want to learn more about insects to know which are harmful and which are helpful, or you may get a kick out of just learning the different kinds and what they do. There are many times more species of insects than there are kinds of coins to collect. You may learn human history from collecting stamps, but you will learn natural history and the way animals interact in your world by collecting Insects. Best of all, Insects are running around in your backyard and don't cost any money. You can always get in the car and go someplace else to see different ones. You might even get to go to the tropics where many species are larger, more ornate, more diverse and more abundant. There are museums filled with millions of specimens from all over the world that always welcome people interested in learning more about insects.
How do you start? Begin by learning the names of Insects. All Insects belong to Class Insecta. The class is divided into Orders. Beetles are in their own order. Butterflies and moths make up another one. Flies make up a third. Every Order is made-up of Families. Scarab beetles make-up a Family. Below this are Genera. May beetles all belong to one Genus. After this are the Species. When we give an Insect a name it is a Genus and Species name of two words just like most people's names. A common may beetle that comes to your porch light in the spring is Phyllophaga arcta. A name is like a handle on the species. If you know the scientific name of an insect you can use libraries to gather every bit of information ever printed about it and become the world expert. You'll probably want to start learning Insects by their Family names like Papilionidae for Swallowtail butterflies or Carabidae for the ground beetles. Once you get a good collection going you can use Insect books to make better identifications.
Insect specimens are best killed in special poison bottles or by freezing. When responsible adults are involved a jar containing tissue paper or paper towels and a small quantity of Ethyl Acetate (fingernail polish remover) works well. A less involved method is to just place the insects in a jar and put the jar in the freezer. Both methods work best if the Insects have the folds of tissue paper to crawl in and cling to. Otherwise they all end up on the bottom and may be damaged. Avoid putting moths and butterflies in the same bottle with your other Insects because the wing scales from the moths can coat other Insects. Most collectors keep a special bottle for moths and butterflies if they collect them.
When you preserve an Insect specimen just remember that you are doing it to be able to examine the characteristics that will be used to identify it. Insects are preserved either dry on pins or in vials of alcohol. Specimens that will shrivel like raisins should stay in alcohol. Insects have different acceptable methods of pinning. The general rule is to do it on the right side so the left remains intact. An Insect has two sides, but only one center. If an Insect is too small to pin then it is glued to a small paper triangle. The triangle tip is glued to the right side of the insect leaving the bottom uncovered. The triangle should be stuck on the pin. All Insects are mounted using special longer Insect pins. They are available at hobby stores or in any university bookstore. The pin is just a handle so you can pick-up the specimen without breaking it. Place the insect about 10 mm from the top of the pin to allow finger room.
Labels will go on the pin below the specimen. Just an insect on a pin is not a specimen. Information about the Insect makes it valuable. You should always record the state, county, location and date of collection. The day and year are written in Arabic numerals and the month is in Roman numerals. This eliminates confusion over month and day mix-ups. The name of the collector and any special information should also be recorded. Label information always goes from biggest to smallest because someone may read your label and know where Texas is but not Mustang Island. You should write a label like this:
TEXAS: Nueces Co.
Mustang Island
23/XII/1994 Jones
Under boards and rocks.....Many Insects hide out under objects for moisture or protection.
Compost piles...................Rich soil and decaying matter attract many Insects.
In the soil.........................During cool wet times of year like winter, Insects abound in the soil.
Under animal dung.............Many interesting beetles breed in manure. Use a stick to overturn cowpies.
Around carrion..................Many Insects eat dead animals. Attract them to traps with bits of meat.
Animal nests or burrows.....Bird nests and animal burrows harbor many insects found nowhere else.
Rotten logs........................Peel the bark away and look beneath. Tear the wood apart with a tool.
Streams and ponds.............Aquatic Insects are abundant year-round. Net them or dip them into pans.
On vegetation....................Spread a sheet beneath branches and knock the Insects off with a stick.
Wounded trees...................Many butterflies are attracted to the sap flows of damaged trees.
In flowers.........................Watch for visiting Insects and net them or pull flowers apart to see inside.
Flying in the air................Just net them as they fly by. Or make a trap for them.
At lights...........................Large numbers of insects are attracted to lights. They avoid yellow or red.
Swimming pool filters........Insects fall in the pool and are filtered out. Many rare ones came from here.
There are many good books that give detailed instructions on Insect collecting and identification. You will probably begin using picture-book identifications to Order and Family. Later you may progress to books with identification keys. Most libraries will have some good books to start out with. If they don't, ask them to get some. Here are a few references for useful books.
- The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders. by L. Milne and M. Milne, 1980. Alfred A. Knopf. New York.
- Simon and Schuster's Guide to Insects. by R.H. Arnett Jr. and R.L. Jaques Jr., 1981. Simon and Schuster. New York.
- A Manual of Common Beetles of Eastern North America. by E.S. Dillon and L.S. Dillon 1972. Dover Publications. New York. 2 volumes.
- An Introduction to the Study of Insects. by D.J. Borror, C.A. Tripplehorn and N.F. Johnson. 1989. Saunders College Publishing. Ft. Worth, Texas.
- An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America. by R.W. Merritt and K.W. Cummins. 1984. Kendall Hunt Publishing. Dubuque, Iowa.
Your collection may be arranged and stored in any kind of box with a bottom that will accept the pins. Cigar boxes with foam or cork bottoms added have been used often. The first job of the box is to protect from breakage. Over time, however, your collection will be attacked by other insects that will eat it. You must combat this with tight fitting lids, repellent chemicals like mothballs and periodic fumigation or freezing. It is nearly impossible to make a box that will keep pests out of your collection. Glass jars are a good alternative to boxes for the beginner. Stick a wad of clay on the center of the inside of the lid and stick the dried pithy stem of some plant in it. Daylillies work well. Pin your specimens into the stem and put the whole thing in the jar. Now it is sealed as tightly as possible and you have a nice display of your insects to look at.
Berlese Funnel
Insects may be extracted from leaf litter or the soil from beneath manure or carrion by using a funnel and 1/4 or 1/2 inch screen wire. You can make a funnel from a plastic coke bottle. Cut the bottom off and throw it away. Turn the bottle upside down. Place a circle of coarse screen wire in the bottle and fill it with loose leaf litter. Place the whole thing over a dish of alcohol. Rubbing alcohol will do. As the soil dries out the Insects are driven down until they fall through the screen into your dish. You will collect Families of Insects that are otherwise hard to find. Modify the funnel idea using a coffee can or even a big garbage can. Pick soil or litter from different kinds of places. Look under a dripping hydrant. Berlese a bird nest. Survey the Insects from your compost heap.
Pitfall Trap
You could crawl around on the ground looking for insects, but a better idea is to build a trap for them. Take any kind of wide mouth jar or coffee can and bury it with the lip even with the ground. This makes a pit for passing Insects to fall into. They might crawl or fly out so pour some very salty water about an inch deep in the bottom to drown and preserve them. Increase your catch by luring them in. Place a bit of meat on a stick over the trap. This will attract carrion feeders. A bit of manure or any other smelly rotten substance will draw different species. Experiment with different baits. If it rains you may want to have a roof to keep your trap from filling. Put some rocks around it and place a board or paper plate on them so the Insects can still go underneath to fall in your trap. Many Insects like to hide under things so this will increase your catch too.
Flight Intercept Trap
There are many Insects flying around in the air that we do not see. They may be too small or too sparse to notice. Just think of a car grill and how many Insects it filters from the air. As they fly around Insects blunder into things and fall. You can take advantage of this to construct a simple trap that will catch them. Set up a panel of wood or plastic sheeting or any other flat object that will make a good barrier. Beneath this panel place some pans with about an inch of very salty water or soapy water to drown and preserve the insects. They will bump into your panel and fall into the pan. Set this up perpendicular to the edge of the woods or in some kind of natural flyway like a forest path. Check it every day to see what fell in. You will be surprised at what you catch.
Hanging Bait Trap
Many flying insects are attracted to rotting and fermenting fruit or sap. Get a plastic milk jug and cut big windows in the sides. Leave the bottom intact so that it will hold two or three inches of liquid. Put overripe bananas and other fruit in the bottom with some sugar water and maybe a little yeast if you have some. Hang it in a tree. Just bananas will work, but experiment with different concoctions. Insects will smell the fermenting mess and fly in through the windows you cut. They will drown in the soupy liquid. Check the trap every couple of days and remove the Insects. Many colorful beetles and moths will be trapped. Rinse them in soapy water or rubbing alcohol. They should be fine.