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CollectingAntsSpecimensCollectingantscanbeassimpleaspickingupstrayonesandplacingtheminaglassjar,orascomplicatedascompletinganexhaustivesurveyofallspeciespresentinanareaandestimatingtheirrelativeabundances.Theexactmethodusedwilldependonthefinalpurposeofthecollections.Fortaxonomy,orclassification,longseries,fromasinglenest,whichcontainallcastes(workers,includingmajorsandminors,and,ifpresent,queensandmales)aredesirable,toallowthedeterminationofvariationwithinspecies.Forecologicalstudies,themostimportantfactoriscollectingidentifiablesamplesofasmanyofthedifferentspeciespresentaspossible.Unfortunately,thesemethodsarenotalwayscompatible.Thetaxonomistsometimesoverlookswholespeciesinfavourofthosegroupscurrentlyunderstudy,whiletheecologistoftencollectsonlyalimitednumberofspecimensofeachspecies,thusreducingtheirvaluefortaxonomicinvestigations.Tocollectaswidearangeofspeciesaspossible,severalmethodsmustbeused.Theseincludehandcollecting,usingbaitstoattracttheants,groundlittersampling,andtheuseofpitfalltraps.Handcollectingconsistsofsearchingforantseverywheretheyarelikelytooccur.Thisincludesontheground,underrocks,logsorotherobjectsontheground,inrottenwoodonthegroundorontrees,invegetation,ontreetrunksandunderbark.Whenpossible,collectionsshouldbemadefromnestsorforagingcolumnsandatleast20to25individualscollected.Thiswillensurethatallindividualsareofthesamespecies,andsoincreasetheirvaluefordetailedstudies.Sincesomespeciesarelargelynocturnal,collectingshouldnotbeconfinedtodaytime.Specimensarecollectedusinganaspirator(oftencalledapooter),forceps,afine,moistenedpaintbrush,orfingers,iftheantsareknownnottosting.Individualinsectsareplacedinplasticorglasstubes(1.5-3-0mlcapacityforsmallants,5-8mlforlargerants)containing75%to95%ethanol.Plastictubeswithsecuretopsarebetterthanglassbecausetheyarelighter,anddonotbreakaseasilyifmishandled.Baitscanbeusedtoattractandconcentrateforagers.Thisoftenincreasesthenumberofindividualscollectedandattractsspeciesthatareotherwiseelusive.Sugarsandmeatsoroilswillattractdifferentspeciesandarangeshouldbeutilised.Thesebaitscanbeplacedeitheronthegroundoronthetrunksoftreesorlargeshrubs.Whenplacedontheground,baitsshouldbesituatedonsmallpapercardsorotherflat,light-colouredsurfaces,orintest-tubesorvials.Thismakesiteasiertospotantsandtocapturethembeforetheycanescapeintothesurroundingleaflitter.Manyantsaresmallandforageprimarilyinthelayerofleavesandotherdebrisontheground.Collectingthesespeciesbyhandcanbedifficult.Oneofthemostsuccessfulwaystocollectthemistogathertheleaflitterinwhichtheyareforagingandextracttheantsfromit.Thisismostcommonlydonebyplacingleaflitteronascreenoveralargefunnel,oftenundersomeheat.Astheleaflitterdriesfromabove,ants(andotheranimals)movedownwardandeventuallyfalloutthebottomandarecollectedinalcoholplacedbelowthefunnel.Thismethodworksespeciallywellinrainforestsandmarshyareas.Amethodofimprovingthecatchwhenusingafunnelistosifttheleaflitterthroughacoarsescreenbeforeplacingitabovethefunnel.Thiswillconcentratethelitterandremovelargerleavesandtwigs.Itwillalsoallowmorelittertobesampledwhenusingalimitednumberoffunnels.Thepitfalltrapisanothercommonlyusedtoolforcollectingants.Apitfalltrapcanbeanysmallcontainerplacedinthegroundwiththetoplevelwiththesurroundingsurfaceandfilledwithapreservative.Antsarecollectedwhentheyfallintothetrapwhileforaging.Thediameterofthetrapscanvaryfromabout18mmto10cmandthenumberusedcanvaryfromafewtoseveralhundred.Thesizeofthetrapsusedisinfluencedlargelybypersonalpreference(althoughlargersizesaregenerallybetter),whilethenumberwillbedeterminedbythestudybeingundertaken.Thepreservativeusedisusuallyethyleneglycolorpropyleneglycol,asalcoholwillevaporatequicklyandthetrapswilldryout.Oneadvantageofpitfalltrapsisthattheycanbeusedtocollectoveraperiodoftimewithminimalmaintenanceandintervention.Onedisadvantageisthatsomespeciesarenotcollectedastheyeitheravoidthetrapsordonotcommonlyencounterthemwhileforaging.Questions27-30DothefollowingstatementsagreewiththeinformationgiveninReadingPassage3?Inboxes27-30onyouranswersheet,writeTRUEifthestatementagreeswiththeinformationFALSEifthestatementcontradictstheinformationNOTGIVENifthereisnoinformationonthis27Taxonomicresearchinvolvescomparingmembersofonegroupofants.28Newspeciesofantarefrequentlyidentifiedbytaxonomists.29Rangeisthekeycriterionforecologicalcollections.30Asinglecollectionofantscangenerallybeusedforbothtaxonomicandecologicalpurposes.Questions31-36ClassifythefollowingstatementsasreferringtoAhandcollectingBusingbaitCsamplinggroundlitterDusingapitfalltrapWritethecorrectletter,A,B,CorD,inboxes31-36onyouranswersheet.31Itispreferabletotakespecimensfromgroupsofants.32Itisparticularlyeffectiveforwethabitats.33Itisagoodmethodforspecieswhicharehardtofind.34Littletimeandeffortisrequired.35Separatecontainersareusedforindividualspecimens.36Non-alcoholicpreservativeshouldbeused.Questions37-40Labelthediagrambelow.ChooseNOMORETHANTWOWORDSfromthepassageforeachanswer.Writeyouranswersinboxes37-40onyouranswersheet.