{{Short description|Device for catching insects}} thumb|230px|Beating insects from a tree branch [[Image:Steinau fg05.jpg|thumb|230px|Using an umbrella as a beating net]]
A '''beating net''' is a device used to collect insects and arachnids. It mainly collects caterpillars, spiders, beetles, aphids and flies. The beating net consists of a white cloth stretched out on a circular or rectangular frame which may be dismantled for transport. It is held under a tree or shrub and then the foliage is shaken or beaten with a stick. Insects fall from the plant and land on the cloth. They can then be examined or collected using a pooter. [[File:Bookplate Bignell.jpg|thumb|Bookplate of George Carter Bignell with his beating tray, displayed in the bottom right hand corner]] The '''beating net''' is also known as the '''beating tray''' or '''beating sheet'''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Invertebrates inventory and monitoring: DOCCM-255606 Invertebrates search and extraction methods v1.0 |url=https://www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/biodiversity-inventory-and-monitoring/invertebrates/ |access-date=2025-10-18 |website=www.doc.govt.nz |language=en-nz}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hts/risc/pubs/tebiodiv/terranth/assets/arthropod.pdf |title=Inventory Methods for Terrestrial Arthropods: Standards for Components of British Columbia's Biodiversity |publisher=Resources Inventory Committee |year=1998 |volume=40 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126150450/https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hts/risc/pubs/tebiodiv/terranth/assets/arthropod.pdf |archive-date=26 January 2016 }}</ref> It is commercially known as a '''Japanese umbrella,''' mainly in Europe.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aissat |first=Lyes |date=2023-07-04 |title=Environmental variables associated with insect richness and nestedness on small islands off the coast of northeastern Algeria |url=https://doi.org/10.14411/eje.2023.027 |journal=European Journal of Entomology |language=en |volume=120 |issue=1 |pages=244–253 |doi=10.14411/eje.2023.027|doi-access=free }}</ref> It can also be confused for a '''beat sheet''', an agricultural device of a similar name. A beat sheet is a white or yellow cloth draped over crop rows to capture insects.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Deutscher |first1=Sandra |last2=Dillon |first2=Martin |last3=McKinnon |first3=Carla |last4=Mansfield |first4=Sarah |last5=Staines |first5=Trudy |last6=Lawrence |first6=Louise |year=2003 |title=Giving insects a good beating |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228514276 |journal=The Australian Cottongrower |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=24–27}}</ref>
The insect beating net was devised by George Carter Bignell.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Freedman |first1=Jan |last2=Hodge |first2=David |last3=Kearsey |first3=Andrew |year=2010 |title=The Life and Entomological Collections of George Carter Bignell |url=https://www.royensoc.co.uk/publications/antenna/antenna-volume-34-1-2010/ |work=Bulletin of the Royal Entomological Society |page=7 |volume=34 |issue=1}}</ref> Use of the beating net replaced the use of the entomological umbrella and the clap-net.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Douglas |first1=John William |url=https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.7908 |title=The British Hemiptera. vol. I, Hemiptera-Heteroptera |last2=Scott |first2=John |date=1865 |publisher=Robert Hardwicke |location=London |pages=6 |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.7908 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wilkinson |first=Ronald S. |date=1978 |title=The history of the entomological clap-net in Great Britain |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/196428 |journal=The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation |volume=90 |pages=127––132}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Entomology equipment Category:Environmental Sampling Equipment