A New Method for Sampling Arthropods Using a Suction Collecting Machine and Modified Berlese Funnel Separator1

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Abstract
A high-speed motor fan was adapted to suck arthropods, along with some trash, from square-foot areas of an alfalfa field. The organisms were sucked into a collecting bag without damage, and these samples of leaves, duff, and living organisms were immediately refrigerated to retard predation and general exhaustive activity. At the end of the day the material from the sample bags was placed in modified Berlese funnels, which separated the organisms from the duff by entrapping the former in alcohol. Three methods of using the suction collecting machine are discussed, along with their respective advantages and disadvantages. All data obtained will be presented in a separate paper at a later date. A more nearly complete and quantitatively accurate sample of arthropods, from the ground surface to the top of the alfalfa stand, can be taken quickly in a single operation. These arthropods can also be separated by modified Berlese funnels into easily countable units in which the specimens are preserved. Modifications could make such machines useful in studying arthropods in other field and vegetable crops and possibly in tree crops.
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