Equipment for field sampling
- autoclaved screw-top vials with moist paper (if sampling live beetles)
- autoclaved empty screw-top vials
- ethanol
- squirt bottle (or separate vials with ethanol)
- bullet box for vials
- larger tubes
- chainsaw + gas + oil
- 2 broad chisels
- crow bar
- anvil pruner
- folding saw
- hammer
- hatchet
- soft forceps on a string
- hard forceps
- scalpel
- scalpel blades
- lighter (for forceps & scalpel sterilization)
- ziploc bags
- permanent markers (alcohol-resistant)
- pigma pen for labels
- notebook
In the field
- beetles: pierce head, put in numbered vial, record
- larvae & frass: put in numbered vial or tube, record
- fungi: same as above
- frontalis: small samples tied up with rubber band, in ziploc bag
Sampling bacteria from beetles
Up to 3 larval chambers, and up to 3 adult beetles (ideally new generation) per tree
1. surface wash 2. the beetle crushed (elytra removed, surface-washed in bleach, water, ethanol, and dried out)
Materials for dissection
(all autoclaved)
- eppendorf vials
- pestles
- (chisel)
- pruner
- pipette
- 1000 uL pipette tips
- EtOH bath
- scalpel
- vial rack
- surface wash for adult beetles (elytra removed, surface-washed in bleach, water, ethanol, and dried out)
- buffer
