Insect ID: Get the Picture?

The best way to send insect samples to your local extension entomologist is to dunk them in a large bottle of Makers Mark or Woodford Reserve.

No camera phones when photographing insects, Potter says. Use a real camera, and the higher resolution the photo, the better.
Photo by Raelene Guiterrez
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Aside from his jesting support of the state’s bourbon industry, Daniel A. Potter, professor of entomology at the University of Kentucky, says floating larvae, caterpillars or white grubs in ethyl alcohol is a good way to preserve them. Rubbing alcohol will do in a pinch. Drop them in boiling water for a minute or so before putting them in alcohol.

For most standard identification challenges, however, a decent digital photo will do. “Not a cell phone shot,” Potter pleads on behalf of his fellow entomologists. Take a good photo with a high-resolution digital camera. Anything above 3 or 4 megapixels will do – but higher resolution is better.

“Be sure it is in focus,” Potter adds. Those pictures can be emailed to the entomology department and, in most cases, the professor can confirm green June beetle or seed corn beetle – pests that usually are not seen on golf courses but are commonplace to entomologists.

If you do want to mail in a sample, stick it in a Zip-loc bag or Baggie with some damp peat moss. Hard-bodied pests like chinch bugs or beetles can go right in the mail.

But the digital photo is the fastest and cheapest way to go, Potter says. “I almost always can identify a pest via a photo,” he says.