Finding insects in the field requires an eye for detail. It is often easier to do after you have had some experience and know where to look. The best way to start is to find a friend who is interested in the natural world and take walks with the specific aim of finding as many different insects as possible. Make notes of where they are found, and the time of the year and the day.
Insects are very seasonal, and may be abundant at one time and completely absent at other times. Timing is therefore critical to success. Some times only immatures are seen, and other times only adults are around. Some insects have several generations in one year and all stages may be found at any time during the summer. Others have only a single generation in which case finding a particular stage depends on your knowledge of their life history.
Field trips in the early fall are usually very successful as most insect life is abundant and in the adult stage. Frost usually marks the end of all but the most hardy insect life. Insects overwinter as eggs, larvae, pupae and adults. If trying to find arthropods is time consuming and frustrating, ask your students to bring in insects from home and around the school grounds.
HERE ARE SOME GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR WHERE TO LOOK FOR ARTHROPODS AND WHAT YOU ARE MOST LIKELY TO FIND.
Aquatic Habitats
(streams, ponds, pools, rain puddles, standing water.)
- In the air: adult dragonflies, damselflies, mosquitoes, mayflies
- Surface: water striders, whirligig beetles
- In still water: mosquito larvae and pupae, beetle larvae and adults, water bugs
- In fast moving water over rocks: caddis, dobson fly larvae, beetle adults
- On or in the bottom: water bugs and beetles (both resting), mayfly, damselfly, and dragonfly naiads, black fly larvae, caddisfly larvae (in protective case)
- In plants in water: Odonata naiads, bugs, beetles
- Tools:
- metal kitchen strainer, aquarium fish net, shallow pan, turkey baster, gallon jar. Wear old shoes!
Ground Habitats
- In the soil: tiger beetle larvae, ant nests, wasps and bees, burrowing spiders, doodle bugs (ant lion larvae)
- Beneath stones: ants, beetles, beetle larvae, spiders, scorpions, sow bugs, centipedes
- In leaf litter: sow bugs, springtails, beetles, centipedes, millipedes
- On surface of the ground: beetles, grasshoppers, velvet ants, ants, flies
Tools:
- insect net, forceps, small vials, trowel, sifter (strainer will do)
Plant Habitats
- On the plant: caterpillars, beetle larvae and adults, aphids, scale insects, leafhoppers, tree hoppers, preying mantids
- On the flowers: bees, wasps, various flies, beetles, spiders
- Inside the plant: larvae of beetles (in and on the wood), leaf miners (in leaves), ants (in cavities), gall forming insects (flies, wasps and some aphids)
Tools:
- insect net, forceps, small vials, pruners
Woodland Habitat
- Many kinds of flies, wasps, bees, ants, butterflies, etc.
Open Field
- Many treehoppers, spittle bugs, beetles, wasps, ants, bees, butterflies, flies, spiders, etc.
Living on Other Animals
- Permanent visitors: biting lice, chewing lice, beetles, some moth larvae
- Temporary visitors: mosquitoes, horse flies, black flies, fleas, pseudoscorpions, ticks, mites
Return to previous page |
