Insect collecting
Insect collecting is historically a widespread, essential predecessor of scientific entomology and at the same time the formerly popular (until the mid-20th century) educational hobby of collecting insects, that has left traces in European cultural history, literature and songs (e.g. Georges Brassens: "La chasse aux papillons" (The hunt for butterflies)).
Since most types of insects have hard exoskeletons that retain their appearance after the insects expire, it is easy and practical to form a collection, and with many thousands of colorful and attractive species known, a collection may become quite large.
The collecting of butterflies is perhaps most popular, with beetles in second place.
Insects are common in almost every part of world, and may be easily found by looking closely at plant leaves or flowers, under rocks and boards, in water, and so forth. At night, many types can be caught flying around lights. A butterfly net is quite useful for capturing flying insects. Funnels, malaise traps, and other types of insect traps, some of which are baited with small bits of sweet foods (such as honey), are also quite effective. Aspirators or "pooters" suck up insects too small or delicate to handle with fingers.
Once collected, a killing jar is often used to dispatch insects before they damage themselves trying to escape. The jar is usually charged with ethyl acetate which is very effective in killing the insect, but still keeps it soft enough to be mounted properly in a collection. Potassium cyanide which gives off cyanide gas can also be used, and is very effective, but is not very common due to its high toxicity to humans. Its advantage is that it does not evaporate off very fast and does not have to be charged as often. A stronger poison also avoids having to crush or squeeze the insects thorax, which though often effective, can disfigure the specimen.
The usual method of display is in a glass-covered box, with the insects mounted on specially made non corrosive insect pins stuck into plastazote or paper covered cork at the bottom of the box.Common pins are not used. Very small insects are either pinned on "minuten" (very tiny pins)into a block of plastazote borne by a standard insect pin or glued to a small piece of card on the pin. There are specific procedures for proper mounting that are used to show off the insects unique characteristics. Sometimes variations can be used especially if more than one of a species is available. For example, one or both of the wings of a beetle or grasshopper can be pulled open and fanned out to show the wing structure that would otherwise be hidden.At least the date and place of capture should be written or computer printed on to a piece of paper or card transfixed by the pin.This is called a data label.
Museums frequently have quite large insect collections, used for research. These are not usually on display, since most of them will all look the same to the untrained eye. Rare insects, and/or those from distant parts of the world may also be acquired from dealers or by trading. Some noted insect collections have been sold at auction.
Nowadays some collectors practise their hobby also by rearing caterpillars, or ova, to adulthood. When done well, this procreates more adults than in nature. Some of the adults are released back in the wild, thus minding the numbers of individuals in natural populations. This method has also been used in some conservation programs.
References
- Martin, J.E.H. 1977. Collecting, preparing and preserving insects, mites, and spiders. The Insects and Arachnids of Canada, Part 1. Publ. 1643, Res. Br., Canada Dep. Agric., Ottawa, ON.
- Methven, Kathleen R., Michael R. Jeffords and Richard A. Weinzierl. 1995. How to Collect and Preserve Insects. INHS Special Publication 17, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, Illinois. 76 pp.
- Murray S. Upton: "A rich and diverse fauna : the history of the Australian National Insect Collection; 1926 - 1991". Melbourne : CSIRO, 1997. 386 p. ISBN 0-643-06322-6
- V.M. Uys & R.P. Urban (Eds.): "How to Collect and Preserve Insects and Arachnids". Pretoria 2006. 112 p. ISBN 1-86849-311-3