How did we…?
Capture the overhead photographs of each bed?
By acquiring a 12ft tall Japanese tripod ladder that can be positioned directly over the top of a bed without obscuring the view. Then by using a digital camera (Sony Cybershot) with sufficient wide angle, an image of the whole 3 x 3 metre bed can be taken in just one shot. Earlier rejected ideas included using a cherry picker (hydraulic lift), suspending a camera on a small marquee-style frame placed over each plot and attaching the camera to an aerial slide fitted permanently over the entire plot. Choosing the right camera was also a challenge since most cameras required two images to capture the plot which would not have been easy to splice together. Panoramic shots were equally unsuccessful, while some wide-angled lenses distorted the edges of the bed to an unacceptable degree.
Overcome the ‘barrier effect’ of the wooden edging boards for crawling insects?
By drilling 30mm (11/4in holes) at regular intervals through the middle of the boards and correcting the soil/bark levels so they align with the centre of the hole. That meant around 5760 holes in total! These ‘portholes’ allow invertebrates such as beetles and spiders to come and go easily from each bed. One alternative was to remove the boards entirely but this would make delineating the edges of the plots in the overhead photos more difficult and creeping plants would quickly overrun into the paths ('guard rows') which must be kept free of vegetation.
Separate out the insects from the detritus in the Vortis suction sampler catch?
By tipping the contents of the collecting jar into a white tray for contrast and pootering up any obvious insects, starting with those that may fly away. A pooter is a simple but clever device used widely for collecting small insects. It consists of a sealed jar with two flexible straws coming out of the top. By placing one end of a straw over the insect and sucking on the other straw, the insect is drawn up into the pot for safe keeping. However, occasionally it can go horribly wrong – as one of the team can testify after accidentally sucking up a mouthful of spider!