3 Collecting insects

Insects are a very diverse group and can be found in a wide range of habitats. There are many different techniques for collecting and surveying them. This section looks at three examples of insect-collection techniques before moving on to a citizen science case study.

Smaller insects can, of course, be difficult to spot in complex habitats, but your searching will improve with practice. They can be collected using a simple device called a pooter (Figure 12) and then transferred to a tube for later identification.

Figure 12 Collecting small insects with a pooter

Activity 6 Survey of larger insects

Allow about 15 minutes

Watch the following video and identify the survey method being used. List some examples (including one you have already encountered) of where this survey method would be useful.

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Video 4

Transcript

Answer

The survey method shown in the video is a linear survey, such as that used to observe plants and animals living on a beach. It could also be used for bird surveys, for example.