Slide 1: Today, I'm going to be talking about my entomology

collection project, which I completed this fall semester for my

Insect Biology Lab class. My audience is fellow peers and
entomologists.
Slide 2:
Let's start with some background.
First of all, insects are six legged, often winged organisms of
the phylum arthropoda. More than 75% of animals are
insects, and there over 1 million species of insects, with an
estimated 3-5 million more that are yet to be discovered.
book
Entomology, or the study of insects, is really important
because insects are crucial for ecology, medicine,
agriculture, product making, biomimicry, and more.
blueridge pollination
The purpose of this project was to further understand the
vast diversity of insects, learn about insect morphology and
distinguishing characteristics, learn how to care for insects
and preserve them, and overall, learn how to identify
insects to order, family, and species.
Slide 3:
This entomology collection project, worth 300 points, was
where, over the semester, we had to collect 100 insects,
preserve them, pin them, and identify them. We had to put
three labels on each specimen. One had the place of
collection, the date of collection, and the name of the
collector. The other had the order and the family of the
insect. The last had the ecological category of the insect,
such as aquatic, decomposer, and predator.
We needed to have 16 different orders, no immature
specimens - only adults, 60 families with only 4 specimens
per family, and 15 different ecological categories.
The collection was presented in a Schmitt box/Cornell drawer,
which is basically just a small wooden box, with specimens
starting at the upper left with the labels right before them.
We also had to include a typed catalog of the insect with
details about the insect and the number of insects of that
kind that we had.
Slide 4:

The following are the equipment we needed to use for this

project.
The first was our relaxing jar, a small glass jar with a paper
towel inside it that's soaked in ethyl acetate. This solution
kills the insect slowly after you put it in there.
Next is the sweep net. Its basically a net you swing across
bushes to collect insects. From here, you transfer them to
your kill jar.
Next is the pinning block we used a roll of duct tape. It
basically helps you gauge the position of the insect and
properly pin it, and also helps you adjust the labels to a
uniform height.
Next are the pins, used to pin insects. Theres a lot of specific
pinning techniques you have to follow, for example pinning
the insect to its right and also making sure its level.
Next is the spreading board, a small board used to spread the
wings of butterflies and larger moths to avoid damaging
them.
We also were provided aquatic equipment for our aquatic
field trips.
Slide 6:
We took three field trips in class, one of which was aquatic,
where we spent 3 hours outside collecting insects for our
collection. We did this mostly in September and October,
when it was warmer and there were more bugs outside.
Slide 7:
Identification was the hardest part. We were provided keys in
class, and we also were taught how to use features like the
way and insects wings are bent or how their eyes are
positioned to identify the insect to their order, family, and
species. To double check, I had to look up the species online
as well to make sure the picture matched my specimen.
After the identification was done, labeling the insects wasnt
too hard with a bit of research online.
Slide 8:
This project is complete. If I could have more time, however,
Id go back and double check all my identifications as well
as try to find more specimens.

Slide 9:
There were definitely some problems I encountered that made
this project all the more challenging, and I advise anyone who
tries this project to be wary of the following:
Its very important to start looking for insects early. One of
my worst mistakes was not looking for insects in the warmer
months. Its VERY difficult to find insects once it turns cold
outside. I had to spend many hours in the freezing cold
searching for bugs, and even then, I was not too successful.
Spreading butterflies is not as easy as it looks. Its really easy
to break their wings, so be sure to spread them early on, as
soon as you catch them, so that they are still preserved and
dont become fragile.
Pinning smaller insects like ants can be really hard. You have
to familiarize yourself with methods like mount pinning.
Insects body parts do fall off in this process, so you just have
to be as careful as possible.
DIVERSITY AND IDENTIFICATION
Slide 10:
I am so thrilled I took this class. Ive always had a huge
passion for insects, and I really got to explore it during this
class. This project taught me about how many different
kinds of insects there are, how to look at an insect and be
able to identify it based on key features, and overall learn
about the importance of insects in our daily lives.