# Net for field sweepings



## Ed Martin (Mar 25, 2004)

Can people give me some ideas where they got their nets for field sweepings. Generally the butterfly nets that I have seen available and purchased were pretty flimsy and broke after a few uses, I was thinking about making my own but sewing is not my strong point. Any help would be appreciated. 
Ed


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## Randy (Mar 18, 2004)

I found a pretty good one at Dick's Sporting Goods last week. I'm not sure what the brand name is, but I found mine in the camping section next to the citronella candles. It's the perfect size for sweepings, and it only cost $8  Hope this helps!


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## EDs Fly Meat (Apr 29, 2004)

I get mine from an entomolgical supply company called bioquip. They also sell display boxes if you are into pinning insects. I think they are on the web at http://www.bioquip.com. But $8 for a net is a killer deal. Randy scored. Yes, its field sweeping bug bazooka time!
Dave


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## Guest (Apr 24, 2005)

Like Dave, I bought the one I have from Bioquip.It is a heavy duty net and has held up to much abuse. Sounds like you made a steal for $8 bucks Randy,good job.
Mark


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## AQUAMAC (Jul 27, 2004)

pool skimmer from pool store (make sure to get the one with deep pockets)


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## Randy (Mar 18, 2004)

Yeah, I felt like I stole that net from 'em :roll: I bet the net you guys have is of much higher quality than the one I've got. Mine's taken a pretty darn good beatin' so far, so I can't complain. Geez, I love field sweeping! I think I enjoy seeing what wierd bugs I come up with more than anything. I've found baby mantids, stick insects, and alot of other really neat bugs in my net before. I honestly think the diversity of spider species is what really grabs my attention. I still have some crab spiders in some of my pumilio vivs from 2 Springs ago.


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## Ed Martin (Mar 25, 2004)

Thanks for the input everyone, it will definately check out Dick's Sporting Goods first!
I really like the field sweepings as a food source, I think that they provide a much more balanced food source. 
Ed


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## Michael Shrom (May 20, 2004)

Carolina Biological supply. I go through 1 every 10 years or so.


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## joshsfrogs (May 6, 2004)

I went looking at Dick's Sporting Goods and found butterfly nets, but I was under the impression that the net had to be fine enough to hold fruit flies. The ones I found at Dick's would let even hydeii through. Is mesh that "holey" what you want?


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## Randy (Mar 18, 2004)

Nah, the net I picked has such a fine pattern that a melanogaster wouldn't be able to get through. Did you look in the camping section?


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## joshsfrogs (May 6, 2004)

Yeah, I did. I'll look again, but they had like 20 nets (4 dif manufacturers), but all with similar mesh which wouldn't hold hydeii. Hmmm...maybe I didn't look hard enough.


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## *GREASER* (Apr 11, 2004)

Petsmart also sells nets in some nice sizes that are chaep. But I really hate buying things from pet stores cause they are evil!


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## PAULSCHUMANN (Apr 20, 2005)

I got a "mosquito net" from Cabelas in Grand Forks for 3$ The net is 8' X 4' and I sewed it to fit the frame of a huge landing net I used for salmon fishing.


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## Mantellaprince20 (Aug 25, 2004)

Hey, check out petsmart. All the petsmarts around me have a bird net for $10, very fine netting, and it is pretty sturdy. I was going to pick one up, but I am still scared of field sweepings. Justlook in the bird supply area,a nd you are sure to find it. It is about a 12 inch diameter circular net. The fabric seems fairly durable as well,

Ed Parker


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## bbrock (May 20, 2004)

I use to field sweep for entomolgy research and have put many nets through their paces and into the grave. I don't skimp on sweep nets. I buy mine from Bioquip and I get the heavy dute sweep net that is made of heavy muslin cloth with sail cloth reinforcement. Grass contains silica which is like running your across sandpaper. You want something you can really gorilla through the vegetation without worrying about it tearing. That's how you catch lots of bugs.

Not sure if anyone has pointed out that a sweep net and butterfly net are not the same thing. One is a lightweight fine mesh meant for nimbly plucking individual insects off of veg or out of the air. The other is a heavy duty sack meant to run aggressively through the grass and vegetation to knock lots of insects into the bag.


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## reptileink (May 1, 2005)

Any dangers feeding "field swept" insects to your frogs. I know you have to sweep them from a pesticide free area, but any actual insects that could cause problems??


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## Ed Martin (Mar 25, 2004)

I ended up getting on from Carolina Biological. Good point Brent, the nets that I was picking up locally were butterfly or ariel nets and they did not hold up to the abuse. 

Reptilelink, I have never had any issues. The bug bazooka is a great option to keep the size of the insects in check, but you can manually sort them too. I wish I could feed sweepings all year long! 

Ed


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## reptileink (May 1, 2005)

um, ok, but what is a "bug bazooka"??


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## Guest (May 13, 2005)

I was wondering what a "bug bazooka" is, too. Also, the one time I ever did sweepings to collect for my chameleon, I got a TON of plant material in the net as well. Trying to sort the bugs from the weeds in the net became quite a hastle. Is there a better way of sorting the bugs from the plant bits? Or, is there something I didn't do right when I was sweeping that would help reduce the amount of dry plant bits in the net?


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## Ed Martin (Mar 25, 2004)

Here is a link to a thread where Brent describes the bug bazooka : http://www.dendroboard.com/phpBB2/viewt ... ht=bazooka

It works great ! No need to sort thru all the extra material either. 

Ed


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## Guest (May 14, 2005)

I live in a suburb and would really like to feed field sweepings to my frogs, the problem is where do I get them from? I mean I wouldn't trust anything from the subdivisions to many fertilizers/pesticides used. The only place I feel comfortable would be a state park (I wouldn't even try a city park) but I'm fairly certain its illegal (maybe with the exception of japanese beetles hah, but I don't think the frogs would eat those). The idea of driving out into the country and taking field sweepings from private property sounds even more um dangerous ;P

So where does everyone collect them from?


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