ENTOMOLOGY
Division 800
Specimens in display collections should be mounted properly and labeled with location, date of collection, name of collector, and order name. Follow mounting and labeling instructions in the Nebraska 4-H Entomology Manual. Boxes are preferred to be 12" high x 18" wide, and landscape orientation so they fit in display racks. Purchase of commercially made boxes is allowed. All specimens are to be pinned and labeled by the exhibitor. No purchased specimens allowed. No projects over 50 pounds allowed.
All static exhibits must have received a purple ribbon at the county fair to advance to the State Fair. Exhibitors may, and should, correct and update collections for competition at the State Fair.
State Fair Premier 4-H Science Award is available in this area.
Scoresheets, forms, contest study materials, and additional resources can be found at: https://go.unl.edu/ne4hentomology.
SFClass1 Entomology Display, First Year Project – Scoresheet SF186 - Collection to consist of 25 or more different kinds (species) of insects representing at least 6 orders. Limit of one box.
SFClass 2 Entomology Display, Second Year Project – Scoresheet SF186 - Collection to consist of a minimum of 50 kinds (species) of insects representing at least 8 orders. Replace damaged or poorly mounted specimens. At least 25 species must be present from after July 1 of the previous year. Limit two boxes.
SFClass 3 Entomology Display Third Year or More Project – Scoresheet SF186 Collection to consist of a minimum of 75 kinds (species) of insects representing at least 10 orders. Replace damaged or poorly mounted specimens. At least 25 species must be present from after July 1 of previous year. Limit three boxes.
SFClass 4 Special Interest or Advanced Insect Display – Scoresheet SF187 Educational display developed according to personal interests and/or advanced identification capability. This also is an opportunity to highlight favorite insects in a creative arrangement. Insects should conform to pinning and mounting standards as in Classes 1-3 and be protected in an insect box. Each specialty display should include names of the insects, interesting information about them, and why the display was made. Advanced identification collections should have insects grouped with labels that correspond with identification level (e.g. family, genus, species). A specialty collection may consist of insects by taxonomic group (e.g. butterflies, grasshoppers, dragonflies, scarab beetles) or by host, subject or habitat (e.g. insect pests of corn, aquatic insects, insect mimicry, insect galls, insects from goldenrod, insect pollinators, etc.).
SFClass 5 Insect Habitats – Scoresheet SF188 Habitats consist of any hand-crafted objects, made of natural or artificial materials, to be placed outdoors, which promote or conserve insects in the environment. Insects may include bee pollinators, butterflies, beneficial insects, etc. A one-page report must accompany the exhibit. Report should include placement, target insect, why materials were chosen, functional design, and indicators of success. See the following resources for reports:
• Nebraska Extension NebGuide: Creating a Solitary Bee Hotel (G2256)
• University of Minnesota: Wild Bees and Building Wild Bee Houses
• National Wildlife Federation: How to Provide Water in Monarch Gardens
SFClass 6 Macrophotography – Scoresheet SF189 Subjects should be insects, spiders or other arthropods, or any nests, webs or constructions they make. All exhibit prints should be either 8” x 10” or 8½” x 11” and mounted on rigid, black 11” X 14” poster or matt board. Either orientation is acceptable. No frames or mat board framing is allowed. A caption of a few sentences should explain the subject and be printed on white paper and glued below the print on the poster board.
SFClass 7 Insect Poster/Display Exhibits – Scoresheet SF190 Exhibits can be posters or three-dimensional displays, and artistic creativity is encouraged. Posters should be no larger than 22" x 28". They should be instructional and can be attractive and have pictures, drawings, charts, or graphs. Posters and displays may show any aspect of insect life, habitat, or related conservation or management. Examples include life history and other facts about an insect; insect anatomy; how to manage insects in a farm, home, lawn, or garden setting; experiences rearing one kind of insect; survey of an important insect; insect behavior (ex. nesting, finding food, mobility, defenses, etc.); habitats (e.g. forests, grasslands, wetlands, rivers, or lakes) and what insects are found there, etc. Three-dimensional displays, such as dioramas, sculptures, models or decorative boxes should have a page of explanatory information accompanying them and fit within a 22” x 28” area.
SFClass 8 Reports or Journals – Scoresheet SF191 Reports and journals should be in a 3-ring binder. A report may be informational, that is, an original article about a favorite insect, a history of insect outbreaks, diseases caused by insects, insects as food, etc. Or, it may be a research report about an investigation or experiment done in a scientific manner. It then should have a basic introduction of the insect studied, methods used, observations, and results of the project. Tables, graphs and images are helpful to include. A journal is an observational study over a period of time with personal impressions. It may cover watching changes of kinds of butterflies over the summer, rearing a specific insect from egg to adult, managing a beehive, observations of insects in a specific habitat, accounts of insect behavior in a forest or flower garden, etc.