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.

Bookplate of George Carter Bignell with his beating tray, displayed in the bottom right hand corner

Beating insects from a tree branch

Using an umbrella as a beating net

The beating net is also known as the beating tray or beating sheet.^[1][2] It is commercially known as a Japanese umbrella, mainly in Europe.^[3] 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.^[4]

The insect beating net was devised by George Carter Bignell.^[5] Use of the beating net replaced the use of the entomological umbrella and the clap-net.^[6][7]