A funnel (E) contains a sample of soil or leaf litter (D), and a heat source (F), in this case an electric lamp (G), heats the sample. Animals escaping from the desiccation of the sample descend through a filter (C) into a preservative liquid (A) in a receptacle (B). This illustration is merely a schematic, since usually the soil sample will not be crumbled and poured into the funnel (this would inevitably lead to a high amount of soil particles in the preservation fluid requiring laborious work to sort out the soil organisms). In fact, the soil sample is placed on a mesh sieve that will allow the soil animals to pass but should retain most of the soil particles.
A Berlese funnel or Berlese trap is a device used to extract desiccation-intolerant invertebrates from samples of soil or leaf litter. It works by creating a desiccation gradient over the sample such that mobile organisms will move away from the dry environment and fall into a collecting vessel, where they are preserved for examination.
Biologist Antonio Berlese first described such a device in 1905, using a hot water jacket as heat source.[1] In 1918 Albert Tullgren described a modification, where the heating came from above by an electric bulb and the heat gradient was increased by an iron sheet drum around the soil sample.[2] For this reason the term Tullgren funnel is also used. A modern funnel usually combines elements from both methods and thus may be referred to as a Berlese-Tullgren funnel.[3]
Another variation uses naphthalene flakes or similar aromatic mothballs in place of a heat source to drive organisms downward.[4] This method finds application in situations without electrical power, where the organisms are repulsed by volatile preservatives in collection container, or they cannot migrate downward quickly enough to avoid succumbing to desiccation.
^Berlese, Antonio (1905). Apparecchio per raccogliere presto ed in gran numero piccoli Artropodi [Apparatus for gathering small arthropods quickly and in large numbers] (in Italian). pp. 85–90. OCLC 79048180.
^Tullgren, A (26 August 2009). "Ein sehr einfacher Ausleseapparat für terricole Tierformen" [A very simple device to select for soil-dwelling animals]. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Entomologie (in German). 4 (1): 149–150. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0418.1918.tb00820.x.
^Brown, Richard D. (15 March 1973). "Funnel for Extraction of Leaf Litter Organisms". Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 66 (2): 485–6. doi:10.1093/aesa/66.2.485.
A Berlesefunnel or Berlese trap is a device used to extract desiccation-intolerant invertebrates from samples of soil or leaf litter. It works by creating...
with pest species. In 1905, Berlese described an apparatus used to extract small creatures from soil for examination. The funnel device has been adapted in...
(while the Berlesefunnel is dry) and does not depend on a light/heat gradient. Nematodes move out of the soil and to the bottom of the funnel because,...
Berlesefunnel device used to extract ants and other living organism from soil and leaf-litter samples; a sample is placed on a screen with a funnel beneath...
1080/00779962.1987.9722513.[permanent dead link] Bremner, G (1990). "A Berlesefunnel for the rapid extraction of grassland surface macro-arthropods" (PDF)...
Cândido Firmino de Mello-Leitão. The eponymous "Tullgren funnel" is a modified Berlesefunnel, a device used to extract small insects and arthropods from...
be set up above the apparatus (in this way similar to the Tullgren-Berlesefunnel). Liquor from the bottom of the apparatus is removed periodically by...
nets, and suction trapping. Direct collection from leaf litter with Berlesefunnels can also result in specimens that can not be collected by other means...
specimens have been collected from Berlesate (soil samples run through a BerleseFunnel). Troglosironidae are 1.7 to 2.5 mm long and eyeless. They have mostly...
to collect. In order to separate the insects from the litter a Berlese/Tullgren funnel is used. Temperature, weather and climate are important readings...