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Every year I get e-mails from students requesting mounted insect specimens with labels for a school assignment. I do not do collections like this for a few reasons. The first and foremost is because it is cheating - and I guarantee you would get caught. What students don't realize is that what teachers are looking for are examples of insect life from the area that you live in - for me to provide insects would mean I would have to collect them here in Rhode Island and what is indigenous to Rhode Island GREATLY differs from what may be indigenous to where you live. Any good biology teacher would pick up on this and know you went somewhere else for your specimens. With the requests that I have gotten and with the requested numbers of insects needed by students would mean that I would have to be collecting for days and days to fill the orders and I like to think that I have more of a life than that. I deal only in exotic insects from other countries that would never pass in one of these collections. Another mistake that students make is thinking that such a collection would be cheap. The cheapest I would be able to go is about $2.00 per insect (and for those that have asked for collections of 100 or more specimens, this adds up quickly). This cost does not include mounting fees, labelling fees, costs of cases to display them in and then the shipping costs to get the collection(s) back to you. One of these collections could cost hundreds of dollars and how many students have this kind of money? It has been my experience that when a teacher assigns such a project, enough time is given to complete the project. Unfortunetly, most students wait to the last minute. You would be amazed at how many specimens you could get in a single weekend. All you have to do is look! Check places like windowsills, under rocks, in gardens and in leaf litter. At night put your porch light on - you will be surprised at how many insects congregate at lights at night! If you have a black light (the kinds used at Halloween in haunted houses and that are used for those neon glowing posters) put that out at night and you will attract even more! In a single weekend you could find dozens of useable specimens. Identification of specimens is now easier than ever. Any good library has field guides to insects and the internet is one of the best places for information on insect specimens. If all else fails with identification e-mail me a picture and I will try to identify it for you. I have no problem with helping in identification and it won't cost a cent. Good luck! |
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