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I'm a beginner, so I'm sorry if this is obvious: I was just reading a text which said
虫取りをしました
which, according to google, means "I took insects", which confused me at first because 取り is already a verb, isn't it? What would it mean if instead of that, the text had said
虫取りました
what role does the 取り verb play in the sentence if する is the main verb in the original?
I couldn't find "虫取{むしと}る" (and so "虫取{むしと}ります") in any dictionary.
"虫{むし}取{と}り" is a noun, composed of "虫{むし}" which means insect, and the nominalization of "取{と}る" which generally means "to take", but in this case can be interpreted as "to catch". "取{と}る" is nominalized by taking its stem, ie. turning its る to a り.
So in the end, "虫取り" is a compound noun that means "catching insects", and can be turned into a verb when used along with "する"; therefore "虫取りをする" means "to catch insects", or more literally, "to do insect catching".
虫取りましたis not correct. 「虫を取りました」 would be fine, though.