14 



ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY CIRCULAR 39 



upward escape of the animals. If an electric light is used for 

 heating, it should be hung directly over the center of the funnel, 

 no cloth should be tied over the top, and the light should have a 

 reflector nearly as wide as the upper end of the funnel. 



STEAM LINES 



CLOTH COVER 



SCREEN 

 SUPPORT 



METAL 

 SHADE 



1/4"- 1/8" MESH 



ETHYL 

 ALCOHOL 



Fig. 7. — Sketch of a Berlese funnel, showing a diagrammatic view across 

 the middle. The central figure shows an arrangement for a steam coil, the 

 lower left for an electric light. 



Care must be taken not to heat the sample too rapidly. 

 Otherwise, either moisture will condense in the lower part of the 

 funnel and trap many of the animals working their way toward 

 the bottom, or the heat will kill many of the organisms before 

 they have an opportunity to move out of the sample. An applica- 

 tion of heat sufficient to dry the sample in 4 or 5 days is usually 

 satisfactory. 



The Berlese funnel is extremely useful for collecting many 

 groups of beetles (particularly Staphylinidae), thrips, Collem- 

 bola, many groups of parasitic Hymenoptera, ants, mites, pseudo- 

 scorpions, millipedes, and centipedes, and a wide range of other 

 minute animals that live in soil, surface cover, logs, or bark. 



