Collecting/Breeding  insects can be a very interesting and educative hobby. If done in an appropriate manner collecting can also have a scientific value.

Collecting                                                                                                                                                          àéñåó

Weather collecting Beetles or Butterflies the most important things to know are:

1) Collecting can be done only in places that are not Natural reserves.

2) Collecting should be reduced to minimum specimens necessary (for example not more than one or two pairs of each specie).

3) An identification guide is very important for recognising species (and helps to avoid collecting very rare species which need our protection).

4) Collecting equipment is absolutly necessary (Collecting net, Killing jar, Forceps, Entomological pins ect).

(A collecting net and Entomological envelope with a specimen in it)

5) Any information regarding the collected specimen should be attached to it (small paper square that should be pinned bellow the specimen, this is called "data label"). this information must include for the least the date and place of capture. also important is the collectors name, specie name if possible and the altitude of the area if it is a mountain.  Insectnet.com offers Excel templates for data labels printing, you can download the file from their site clicking here: Insect Data Labels.

Collecting Methods                                                                                                                            ùéèåú àéñåó

Time of day - Butterflies are mostly active in morning hours and fly until noon. Beetles can be found at any time (some active by day, some by night ect). Beetles can be found everywhere - under rocks and tree barks, on leaves, flowers, tress, inside animal excrements, underground, in ant nests and so on.

Light traps (UV or Mercury bulbs) are best used in clear night (with no moon) away from any other light source. the best time is from dusk (for 2-3 hours). The best places are those in which there is an open hill that is close to a forest area (thus 2 worlds - woods and open land) meets toghether and more insects species are available. althogh the best hours are the evening ones you can see other species in different hours of the night. the bulb should be placed above a hanged white sheet, on which the insects will appear. this trap has the atvantage of maintaining livestock that will be suitable for pairing and rearing.

For ground beetles (like Tenebrionidae and Carabidae) one can use Pitfall Traps. this is easily done with plastic round boxes (used for food) that can contain 500gr food. the box should be placed in the ground (the top of the box should be at the ground level). in the box you can put beer or anti-freeze water used for cars. Beetles should fall into these traps easily.

For flower beetles (such as Cetonids) you can take a plastic bottle (like the big Coca cola bottles) and cut a window (10cm wide) about 10cm from the bottom. place rotten fruit inside (banana ect) and hang the bottle on a tree branch. this will attract insects and keep them inside as long as the food remains there. traps should be visited again in about 4-7days.

There are many other methds for traps (like using big yellow bowl filled with water to attract flower loving insects that see the bowl as a big flower), if one wants to learn more methods the internet is a very good place to start. the 2 mentioned traps are the best known. 

When catching a Butterfly it should be removed from the net to an Entomological envelope (for maintaining the delicate structure of the wings). the butterfly should be hold gently through its body, never touch the wings!

Livestock

As mentioned above, rearing insects can be very interesting and educative experienec. Rearing Beetles require a bit of effort (supplying the grubs with suitable substrate is not a simple job). you need good soil and mix it with rotten leaves (flat-board leaves such as Oak) and small woodchips. the grubs also need high humidity and ventilation holes. they will also become pupa in this subtrate and as adults they will lay their eggs inside.

However with butterflies the case is different. all you need to do is find some Larvae (Caterpillars) and take them along with their foodplant (the plant they were found on) in order to feed them until pupation. you can also follow flying females and watch where they lay their Ova (eggs) and take these eggs gently (with the foodplant) for rearing. 

Maintaning a collection needs some information on setting and preserving the specimens.

Setting and preserving the specimens

Setting specimens is a hard work at the beggining but in time becomes very easy and enjoyable. for setting Beetles ones need Entomological pin for the specimen body and regular pins to set the beetles legs and antena in the right position. the pictures bellow shows how this should be done. after a few days the regular pins can be removed as the specimen becomes dry. The Entomological pin should be pinned through the top of the right wing-case (Elytron), near its base. 

Setting butterflies and Moths demands much more practice, but after a while as experience achieved becomes very easy too. again there is a need for entomological pin for the body and regular pins for setting the wings.  the setting demands a setting board made of wood (picture bellow). a smooth paper should cover the butterflies wings (in the picture bellow you can see a Cicada and a Morpho butterfly on a setting board, notice the angle of the setting board) as pins hold it firm around the wings untill it dry. the entomological pin should be pinned through the middle of the thorax at the thickest point.

after the wings been set the specimen need about a week or more (depending on the specimen size) to be dry. at this stage it is important to place the specimen in a sealed box (the best is wooden box with glass top for viewing, as shown in the picture bellow). in this box you should place an Insects killing agent (Glubol, Naphtalin ect) so mites will not enter the box and eat your collection.  colors will not fade if the box will be kept away from sunlight or any direct strong light for that matter.

 Wooden frame/boxes for specimens

            *This page will soon be updated with more information and will be available also in Hebrew.