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A: To begin, you will need to plan the project. How will the insects be displayed? Are there any special requirements for numbers or types of insects, labeling, etc.?
Once the general questions have been answered, move on to preparation. You will need something to hold the insects (i.e. mayonnaise jars with lids). You will need something to collect the insects (i.e., nets for flying insects, nets for aquatic insects, trowels for insects living under logs). And, of course, the most necessary collection tools I have found to date are hands; you?ll need them to help transfer animals from net to jar and to help dig creatures out of tight spaces.
After supplies have been collected, do a little homework. Check out sources which will help you and your child refresh your memories about which are and are not insects (caterpillars are insects, spiders are not). Discuss what makes an animal fit into the ?insect? category (insects all start out with 6 legs, 2 antennae, 3 body parts, and maybe wings). This preliminary work will help when you?re ?in the field?.
Now go out with your collection tools and look for crawly critters.
Good places to start for terrestrial insect hunts are under logs, under landscaping rocks, and in and around flowerbeds. Look under mulch and in groundcover. Be sure to replace any disturbed ?homes?. Animals that live in these habitats are usually attracted to the cool and the wet; leaving a log unturned dries the soil and lets in the heat. Watch for earwigs, roaches, termites, ants, beetles and their larvae, ant lions, and fly larvae.
Next investigate flowers, plants, and the air. Look for insects feeding, flying, or resting. Watch for butterflies and caterpillars, ladybugs, mosquitoes, bees, wasps, true bugs, flies, and grasshoppers.
Move next to aquatic insect habitats: puddles, birdbaths, ponds, swimming pools, bayous and other bodies of water. Watch for dragonflies and their nymphs, mosquitoes and their larvae, pond skimmers, and water boatmen.
Getting the insects is only the first part of putting together a collection.
Next you will have to put the jars of insects into the freezer to kill the animals. The freezer is a painless and easy death for insects since they are cold blooded. That means that they rely on changing their environment to regulate their body temperatures (shade cools them, full sun warms them) much the same way reptiles do. Putting the animal in the freezer gradually slows their body processes and the animal drifts into permanent sleep. Leave them in the freezer for at least 24 hours and do not remove them until you are ready to mount them.
You will need to mount the specimens according to the project instructions. There are very complicated methods of pinning and spreading, most of which are not required of young children and their parents. If needed, a very good resource for pinning instructions is the University of Kentucky Entomology website
click here or check with your local library for entomology books.
Good luck and happy hunting!
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