The science of insect study is called entomology. Presented herewith are different
ways of insect collecting in nature as well as laboratory work, which comprises
both technical and specialist processing of the collected material. In the field,
entomologists catch animals with various devices, such as butterfly net. A very
similar to it is the catcher – a linen bag on a hoop fitted with a holder. With the
catcher, insects are caught in meadows and bushes. Sometimes, a white sheet is
spread under a tree or bush, on to which animals, mostly insects, fall after thorough
shaking of trees or bushes. As the insects are mostly small and gentle, they are
caught by an appliance called »exhauster«. This is a small bottle with two tubes set
in its stopper. When a gatherer sucks in air through the first tube, a sip of air is
created at the mouth of the second tube owing to the negative pressure, sucking in
tiny animals. The device is also suitable for catching individual animals under
stones, in meadows, bushesand other places. Entomologists can also catch insects
with various traps or attract them during the night with special lights by
illuminating the white surface.
Some insects, such as beetles and butterflies, must be prepared prior to being
placed in collection – prepared in a position in which their diagnostic
characteristics will be clearly visible. When butterflies are in a suitable position,
they are pinned to a specially designed wooden board and left to dry in this
particular position. Elaborately equipped with all the particulars about the species,
site of recovery and the finder, they are then deposited in special entomological
boxes.
Some insects are also preserved in alcohol, while the smallest ones are kept as
microscopic preparations.
In museum collections, however, only the animals implicitly needed by experts to
identify a species or for some other scientific purposes are kept. Animals are
otherwise studied in their natural habitats, where they are of course not killed. This
holds true especially of rare and endangered species. By taping and studying their
animals' voices, for example, the species affiliation and kinship relations between
singing insects are studied as well as some other interesting mechanisms in nature.
The insects calling in nature are taped with special microphones, with tape
recordings eventually deposited in the collection of sound records.