Insect Collection Ideas

Types of Bugs

• In insect collection, many people stick to the traditional bugs such as butterflies and beetles. However, there are thousands of types of bugs that will work in nontraditional insect collecting. Some bugs to consider collecting include large ants, flies, wasps and other stinging bugs such as bees, unusual beetles, dragonflies, grasshoppers or crickets, walking sticks, spiders and praying mantises. If desired, you can have several insect collections based on the type of bug.

Display

• There are several ways to display insect collections. The most traditional way is to pierce the bugs with pins and place them on a card system or on top of foam or another soft surface. Some insect collections can be displayed on the wall. You can also have a live insect collection, rather than a dead one if you dislike the idea of deliberately killing insects. For this you would need an empty aquarium or some other container with a mesh lid to prevent the insects from escaping.

Supplies

• Insect collecting requires a surprising amount of supplies. There are several ways to catch the bugs, either with a net or by hand, and there are also several ways to kill insects. A popular way to kill the bugs is with a kill jar full of cotton balls soaked in nail polish remover. In addition to these supplies, materials for mounting are also necessary including a mounting board, pins, glue and tweezers.

Labels

• Every insect should have some kind of label. Most people write the common name, scientific name and the genus and species of the bug. You could organize insects by name, species, where they were found, time of year they were found or alphabetically. You could also arrange the bugs in an interesting pattern without giving any thought to the actual identity of the bug.

Mixed Collections

• One idea for insect collections is to mix the different collections for visual interest. Rather than having all butterflies in one collection, intermix the butterflies with spiders, beetles or grasshoppers. This gives the collection a more stylized and interesting appearance.