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RE: NANFA-- collecting bugs for fish food ( Attn. university types)
Chuck Church said:
> It occurs to me that entomologists must have some way of
> passively sampling
> the insects of an area. (As opposed to running around with a
> net). Maybe you
> university types could call entomology and pass along how
> they do it and where
> to buy (or how to make) collections equipment.
>
> I have heard of them putting a light behind a white sheet and
> then hand-picking the bugs off.
The light and the sheet is an effective way to collect adults that are
attracted to light. Of course, this has to be done after dark. You
suspend the sheet between trees and drape it on the ground so insects
that strike the sheet and don't hang on fall onto the part draped on the
ground. Some use specially-designed collecting tubes for picking the
insects off the sheet. One end is placed over the insect and the other
in your mouth and the insect is pulled in when you suck on the tube
(which is designed so you sdon't suck it into your mouth). I'm not sure
this is an effective "quantity" method, though. And you lose sleep.
In the daytime there's the "umbrella" method, where you put an umbrella
or sheet under a bush or branch and shake it, collecting the fallen
insects below.
I'm not sure any of these are better than culturing your own, though.
Jay DeLong
Olympia, WA, USA