I've posted instructions for an alternative to those for Brine flotation-sieving extraction from soil, an earlier one along the same lines. Sucrose (cane sugar) with a flocculate additive to improve high density solids settling in Step 6 replaces NaCl (table salt) in the flotation solution.

I've had good results collecting arthropods from soil and forest floor detritus using a Berlese funnel(1), some of which are posted on Bugguide. However, some very soft-bodied arthropods do not tolerate the heat from the lamp long enough to crawl out of the soil and fall into the collection jar, or their mobility is too limited. For such taxa, flotation-sieving, which isolates objects within a range of sizes and densities between that of water and 1 molar sucrose solution, in this case, is an option. I used the earlier NaCl procedure described earlier to isolate several proturans in a different location, for which 4 attempts to repeat a single finding with a Berlese funnel proved unsuccessful. It is similar to that described by Byrd, et al. 1966(2), but a modern less toxic commercial flocculating agent is used. It is unclear at this time which is more effective. Saturated NaCl solution is more dense and less viscous than the 1 molar sucrose solution used here, but more toxic to the creatures. Specimen mobility is helpful in identification.

The soil sample used for these images was shaken from marshy sod dug up a few meters from the north shore of Stewart Lake, 35°49'56.0"N 105°43'35.0"W, 9295 ft. elev, Cowles 7.5' quadrangle, Santa Fe National Forest, Santa Fe Co., New Mexico, as shown in the above image.

The full procedure is listed in the remarks for Step 1. Otherwise, click the subsequent images below for each step.