Collecting and Handling 



4i 



Fig. 38. — The apron net. 



merce are everywhere available. Also, for getting small animals out of 

 their places of hiding, there are shovels and sifters, rakes and hoes, axes 

 and chisels, etc. Some commercial tools especially devised for collecting 

 purposes have been illustrated in the preceding article. 



In the following pages we will describe only a few of the most useful 

 and most generally applicable devices for collecting and handling in- 

 vertebrates. Others will be found in the articles which follow, where 

 their special uses will be indicated. Many others may be found by our 

 readers if they will consult Pe- 

 terson's Manual of Entomolog- 

 ical Equipment and Methods, 

 which, although prepared pri- 

 marily for work on insects, 

 contains much that is equally 

 applicable to the handling of 

 other invertebrates. 



Aquatic animals. A dip net 

 (Fig. 1) is perhaps the most 



widely used tool for collecting in freshwater. It must be stout enough 

 to stand hard usage and its mesh must be fine enough to retain the ani- 

 mals desired. 



The best single tool for collecting the larger aquatic invertebrate 

 animals is the apron net (Fig. 38). It is so shaped at the front that it 

 may be pushed through beds of weeds or under bottom trash. Its wide- 

 meshed cover allows the animals to enter while keeping out the weeds 

 and coarser trash. A final push through the water lands the catch at 

 the rear where it is easily accessible for picking over by hand. 



The smaller animals that are mixed with the trash in the net may best 

 be found by dumping its contents into a white pan of water where they 

 will at once reveal their presence by their activity. They may be taken 

 from the water most easily and without injury on a lifter made from a 

 strip of wire cloth by infolding its edges. 



An apron net is equally satisfactory for scraping up and sifting bot- 

 tom mud and sand to obtain burrowers. It may be used for collecting 

 insects and other animals from among loose stones in rapid streams 

 by setting it edgewise against the bottom facing up stream and stirring 

 the stones above it. The animals that are dislodged by the stirring 

 will be swept by the current into the net. Old leaf drifts caught in the 

 edges of the current may be stirred in the same way to get the animals 

 hiding in them, but more stirring and over-turning of the leaves will be 

 necessary to dislodge them. 



The small kitchen strainers for sale in any 10-cent store, if securely 

 attached to handles, are good for dipping small animals from pools. 



