“Beetle Blitz” Collecting
- Safety - before heading out on the trail please see "For Your Safety".
- Everyone collecting specimens in the Park is required to obtain a collecting permit. This can be applied for online on the National Park Service Research Permit and Reporting System.
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DLIA Board Member Dr. Victoria Bayless demonstrates collecting beetles with a "beat sheet" to students.  |
A minimum of two persons per collecting team will visit Park trails or designated points. Use GPS (see Guidelines for Collecting GPS Data) and/or pacing to keep track of all locations. If you are going along a trail, collect every 200 meters within a 15 meter diameter circle. Complete the record sheet or keep a journal and label everything with collector’s name, date, collection method, and location.
- Each team will sample using three different techniques:
- Sweep or beat sampling (depending on the site)
- Litter sampling
- Ground sampling
- Supplies:
- Aspirator
- 1 set of sieves for leaf litter sampling
- 1 plastic box for sweep sampling
- labels and scissors
- pencil
- 1 beat sheet and stick
- 1 sweep net
- alcohol
- map
- Process:
- Pair up to sweep (or beat) and for litter sampling.
- Individuals can work on ground sampling.
- All samples will be stored separately in vials
with labels.
- Sweep sampling
- Sweep sampling will consist of number of sweeps (minimum of 50 sweeps; begin counting with (1) forward motion and (2) back again).
- Place the sample in a plastic box and remove the beetles. (It is understood that some beetles are very small and that some hemiptera will probably be confused for beetles.
- Collect all specimens that
you think are beetles, and remember to collect quickly because beetles
can fly away.
- Beat sampling
- Beating will be restricted to a particular bush or tree or group of bushes or trees that are the same species.
- Before beginning the beating, positively ID the plant or collect a twig with leaves and place it in a labeled zip lock bag.
- Beat sampling is based on time (30 minutes overall: 10 minutes for each plant group, 3 plant species in total, or 15 minutes per plant or plant group, 2 plant species in total, or all 30 minutes on only one plant or plant group).
- The overall time includes the time spent on the collection of the beetle
specimens.
- Litter sampling
- Litter sampling is based on area (using the pvc square provided, or measuring the area of the collecting sifter).
- Remove the leaf litter and the top most part of the soil and place it in the sieve set.
- Shake the sifter vigorously to remove the small specimens from the large ones.
- One person will sort the top sieve and the other
the bottom sieve.
- Ground sampling
- Ground sampling consists of turning over rocks and logs, looking under moss and on herbs (ground cover or short plants) for specimens and collecting them.
- Please do not destroy the habitat or remove the bark from the logs.
- Replace all rocks, logs, and moss to original positions.
