Step 1. Locate a suitable patch of forest, field, or desert.
Step 2. Wait for a warm, moonless summer night.
Step 3. Using a long extension cord, plug in a blacklight. Or even better, a mercury-vapor lamp.
Step 4. Sit back and watch your prey arrive.*
*disclaimer. This technique works generally for most entomologists, but if your needs are more specific, you will wish to employ more specialized methods. Forensic entomologists prefer roadkill, for example.
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I thought that all you had to do to attract an entomologist was to rub your legs together.
Loved this post! Catching an entomologists sounds both fun and easy. Must try it sometime. :)
Romeo - very very funny!
Ab fab, Alex! (And the cicindelid is really gorgeous, BTW!)
this doesn't work for me... i'm more of a tree beater
catching them is the easy part. It is the taping of the kill jar to the nose that takes a bit of skill..
Thanks for a wonderful summer vacation idea!
Must do this, in addition to scoping protists and hanging out around mycologists... I really need to 'grow up' or something... =D
(hey, there's a world outside the lab sometimes!)
Some of them really love strange places like caves :)
Hah. The title alone does it for me :) Very Gary Larson-esque, just had to comment. Lacks some macro photos of entomologists though ;)
Specialists on pollinators are attracted to flowers. They leave the roadkill and blacklights to others.
i see an orb!
hahaha
good one..
but u should know entomologists shld be attracted to the tropics yah? I am assumingly there's alot more insect biodiversity here..
Herrik nailed it with the Gary Larson reference. I bet your blog attracts a lot of entomologists too. I'm like a moth buzzing around a candle flame between this blog, your blog, Flickr, and bugguide.net... And I'm not even an entomologist!
Don't forget the mashed fermenting peaches mixed with beer.