To Collect Invertebrates
on Plants or Flowers
Many schoolyard plants are crawling with hard to spot invertebrates,
from those that eat leaves to the predators that eat them.
These ‘catch and release’ methods will shake the
invertebrates loose from their leafy roosts or allow students
to use aspirators to safely suck them into straws and put into
containers
SHAKE BOXES and Sheets (to
collect beetles, spiders, aphids, plant bugs, ants)
- Shakes animals off plants and provides a light colored “landing
area” to collect them
Using a file folder box
Materials:
- Lid of cardboard file folder box
- White copy paper 8.5” x 11”
- 1 gallon plastic zip lock bag
- Two 1” binder clips
- Container to hold invertebrates
How to make:
- Use scissors to cut one short end of the box lid off (so you
have a three sided lid)
- Tape or glue white paper to the inside and back side of the
box lid
(this makes things easier to see)
- Stretch the 1 gallon bag across the cut end of the box lid
so that the box seems to empty into the bag
- Clip the bag onto the box
- Sort and count any animals and draw them.
How to use:
- Hold the box under a leafy branch and shake the branch
- When an invertebrate falls into the box lid,
tip the lid so that the invertebrate slides into the bag
- Scoop the invertebrate out into a container or keep in it the
bag for observation
or
Using a dowel & towel
Materials:
- 24” long wooden dowel about 1/2” wide or similar stick
- White sheet or towel
- Container to hold invertebrates
How to use:
- Lay the sheet or towel out under a bush or branch, or have
two students hold it open
- Use the dowel or stick to gently rap on the branches to dislodge
the invertebrates
- Scoop them off the towel into containers
- Sort, count and draw your invertebrates and release back where
you found them
ASPIRATOR (to collect
flies, small bees, plant hoppers, beetles)
Enables you to safely suck up insects and put into a container
without touching them.
Using tubing and a straw
Materials:
- Clear plastic straw (wider is better), not the bendable
kind
- 1/2” square of plastic, small gauge window screen
(from any hardware store)
- 24” of surgical tubing, (at least 1/2” wide
at end)
- Clear containers with lids to hold invertebrates
How to make:
- Hold the screen over one end of the straw
-
Push the straw end with screen attached into one end of the
tubing about 1“ deep
- Tape the junction between straw and tubing (optional)
How to use:
- When you see a small fly, gently suck into the straw and
put thumb over opening of straw to prevent it from flying
back out
- Gently blow fly into a container and quickly close lid |
