DIY Aspirator

Inkie14

Inkie14

Fifth Instar
Home-made aspirator for collecting and studying very small arthropods such as thrips, springtails, ants, and mites. Two vinyl tubes stuck in the top of a deli cup, with the longest tube (the one you suck air through) covered with a thin layer of cotton to keep you from swallowing what you catch!

Aspirator.jpg


I'm gonna go use it right now!

 
It works really well, and even the smallest nearly microscopic springtails I collected were unharmed.

 
Inkie14 said:
It works really well, and even the smallest nearly microscopic springtails I collected were unharmed.
Click to expand...
I will have to try this out at the Botanical Garden. They have a few interesting tropical ants (Tapinoma melanocephalum and Cardiocondyla sp.) living among the plants. I've noticed queens on several occasions but have not had a way to collect them quickly. :)

 
UPDATE:

So if you're like me, you sometimes get a little too excited about grabbing that little springtail or mite before it runs away. While collecting small arthropods from a compost pile, I accidentally without realizing it sucked air through the short tube, and collected with the long tube. Not only was this disgusting because I had just put my mouth on a piece of tube that had touched manure (UGHHHHH
bleh.gif
) but the little arthropod got sucked into the long tube and was stopped by the cotton, making it so that if I sucked through the long tube again I would swallow the bug!!!

Solution:

UpdatedAspirator.jpg


I put a small strip of colored tape near the opening of the small tube. This way, I'll be able to see that it's the wrong tube before I put my mouth on it.

Also, you can use a small ball of cotton to seal off the small tube when you've finished collecting, to eliminate the chances that a bug will climb up and out of the tube.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top