A limited number of copies of the guide are available by mail. Please include your daytime telephone number with your order. We believe it will enrich environmental education experiences for elementary, middle and high school students in this region and beyond. Teachers and students who set up outdoor classroom stations and conduct outdoor investigations will be surprised to find that even the most ordinary looking natural area around their schools can be home to a tremendous variety of plants and animals. Beetle traps are simple pitfall traps to collect terrestrial insects for study.
Students can make simple traps by sinking coffee cans, large vegetable cans, etc., at ground level.
Be sure to put a few small holes in the bottom of the cans so they will not collect rainwater. Specimens can be preserved, pinned and identified, or identified and released. Various types of beetles can be attracted placing bait, such as rotten meat, in the pitfall traps. These animals are very secretive and spend much of their time hiding under cover. Field ecologists duplicate natural hiding places by placing boards, tin and other scrap construction materials on the ground.