Ant collection Cheat Sheet

Step 1: Complete habitat profile

 Take pictures of the area where you are placing the marker flag.
 Use iNaturalist to determine the latitude and longitude.
 Canopy cover is how much trees you see when you look towards the
sky
 RH% is the relative humidity. The temperature and humidity can be
found using the weather app on your phone
 Litter is the material on the ground
 Use soil type website to help identify soil

Step 2: Set up bait traps

 Stick the marker flag in the ground with the hot dog on the end. Be
sure the flag is stick down far enough in the ground, so it doesn’t blow
over.
 Remember where you put your marker flag.

Step 3: Collect ants from bait traps

This should be done an hour after leaving the baits.

 Quickly take a picture of the ants before collecting them.

 To remove the ants from the bait, tap the marker flag quickly over the
collection cup to shake off the ants into the collection cup filled with
alcohol.
 You are in charge of the data collections! Be sure to share with all
group members. Copies of the data (habitat and specimen profile)
should be in each group member’s lab notebook entries for this week.

Tips

The documentation sheet has hyperlinks to help guide you. Click on the links
for more information on how to use your phone to answer questions.

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Bowie State University, BIOL 102
Dr. Glover