Investigation: Pitfall trap
Why are we doing it?
To find out which mini-beasts are living under the canopy of the tree in the leaf litter.
How long will it take?
3 days
What do we need?
- Trowel
- Clean, empty yoghurt pot
- Teaspoon
- Sugar
- Slate
How do we do it?
- Using the trowel take out a piece of ground underneath the tree’s canopy
- Place the yoghurt pot in this hole
- Put one teaspoon of sugar in the yoghurt pot
- Using the sod removed from the ground place a slate at an angle over the yoghurt pot
- After 3 days remove the pot from the ground and see what mini-beasts it contains.
Results?
There were spiders, some droppings, and a ladybird found in the pot.