Large Helicopter-Towed Net for Sampling Airborne Arthropods

The development of a large helicopter-towed net for aerial sampling of arthropods in research of insect flight behavior and movement is described. The pyramidal, windsock-shaped net has a 5 m^ inlet and an air sampling rate of 3.2 x 10^ m^/h when towed at the designed airspeed of 64 km/h. This sampling rate is more than four times that reported in the literature for similar systems. With an apical angle of 25 deg or less in the large net, collected insects are efficiently funneled into a smaller compartmentalized collection net. The individual compartments of the collection net are constructed such that they can be sealed with styrofoam balls released by the pilot by remote control.