A leaf litter sieve is a piece of equipment used by entomologists, in particular by

coleopterist Coleopterology (from Coleoptera and Greek , ''-logia'') is the scientific study of beetles, a branch of entomology. Practitioners are termed coleopterists and form groups of amateurs and professionals for business and pleasure. Among these is ...

s (beetle collectors) (Cooter 1991, page 7) as an aid to finding invertebrates in

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that have fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent ...

. A typical leaf litter sieve consists of a gauze with holes of approximately 5 to 10 mm width. The entomologist places handfuls of leaf litter into the sieve, which is placed above a white sheet or tray. The sieve is shaken, and insects are separated from the leaf litter and fall out for inspection.

Charles Valentine Riley Charles Valentine Riley (18 September 1843 – 14 September 1895) was a British-born American entomologist and artist. He was one of the first individuals to use biological pest control and authored over 2,400 publications. He convinced Congress ...

details use of a simple sieve with a cloth bag. A more complex combination sieve is described by Hongfu. Hongfu, Zhu, 1949 ''How to know the immature insects; an illustrated key for identifying the orders and families of many of the immature insects with suggestions for collecting, rearing and studying them, by H. F. Chu.'' Pictured key nature series Dubuque, Iowa,W. C. Brown C
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References

* Cooter, Jonathan (1991) ''A Coleopterist's Handbook'', The Amateur Entomologists' Society, Entomology equipment Environmental Sampling Equipment {{Entomology-stub

See also

References