A leaf litter sieve is a piece of equipment used by entomologists, in particular by coleopterists (Cooter 1991, page 7) as an aid to finding invertebrates in leaf litter.
A typical leaf litter sieve consists of a gauze with holes of approximately 5 to 10mm width. The entomologist places handfuls of leaf-litter into the sieve, which is places about a white sheet or tray. The sieve is shaken, and insects are separated from the leaf litter and fall out for inspection.Riley details use of a simple sieve with a cloth bag. A more complex combination sieve is described by Hongfu
Famous quotes containing the words leaf, litter and/or sieve:
“Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaf and blood at the root
Black bodies swingin’ in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hangin’ in the poplar trees.”
—Billie Holiday [Eleanor Fagan] (1915–1959)
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“It’s like pushing marbles through a sieve. It means the sieve will never be the same again.”
—Before the 1972 Democratic Convention in Miami. As quoted in Crazy Salad, ch. 6, by Nora Ephron (1972)