Follow the links in the center column to page after page of exciting accounts of expeditions in pursuit of elusive arachnids. Thrills! Chills! You won't want to miss this!

Tools of the Trade	Years and Expeditions  1986-9   WITH ALBUM  1990    1991     1992  1993-4  Kuril Islands 1994  Kuril Islands 1996  Kuril Islands 1997  1998                 1999  2000-01   WITH ALBUM  Sakhalin Island 2001  2002-3              2004  2005    2006   WITH ALBUMS  2007    2008   WITH ALBUMS  2009    2010  WITH ALBUMS  2011    2012  WITH ALBUMS  2013    2014  WITH ALBUMS  2015  WITH ALBUMS  2016  WITH ALBUMS  2017  WITH ALBUMS  2018  WITH ALBUMS  2019  WITH ALBUMS  2020  WITH ALBUMS  2021  WITH ALBUMS  2022  WITH ALBUMS  2023  WITH RECENT ALBUMS  2024  NEW! WITH ALBUMS Photo Album Index	Tools of the Trade
Sifter		Field forceps, brush, lab forceps
Beating net		Field vials, permanent vials
Collecting (surplus ammo) belt		Killing tube
Berlese funnel		Field notebook and labels
Trowel		GPS unit for label locality data
Microscope	Pitfall trap materials	Vial storage system

The object of this page is simply to show what fun it is to be a "bug" collector! As editor of Scarabogram, newsletter of "Scarabs: The Bug Society," I report on field trips; mostly my own trips collecting spiders for the research collection at the Burke Museum. The notes linked above almost all appeared in Scarabogram in their original forms. References to the editor mean me; most other persons mentioned (except on Russian trips) are Scarabs members or Burke Museum volunteers. In earlier periods, many other trips occurred but were not reported in enough detail to be worth including here. The date of the field trip heads each paragraph. Maps showing the location of sites within Washington state follow the grid system outlined in the Washington Spider Checklist.

Spider collection coverage of Washington showing 1/10 degree lines

You might well ask: what's the object of all this spider collecting? Well, the main idea is to find out what spider species occur in Washington, what habitats each one lives in, and how each one is distributed around the state. When I started in 1971, we knew virtually nothing about these things. Even now, there are still plenty of species we haven't found even once (I get new ones on most field trips), many others for which there are only 1-5 specimens known, and many parts of the state not yet sampled. The map at right shows collecting progress in Washington through March, 2024. Each red dot shows a 1/10 degree area with over 20 species known. Out of 2195 areas, 755 sampled, 1440 to go!

If readers have spider questions for the author, kindly check this out first:

"Spider Myths" will probably cause you to re-think your questions. If you still have questions after you have read "Spider Myths" (but only after you've read it), feel free to contact me at .

This page last updated 3 April, 2024