An interesting variety of soil traps

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Proctos, 26.05.2007 5:14

I've heard from my colleagues, and now I've seen a type of soil trap on the Internet - Nordlander traps. (See photo). The advantages are obvious: complete secrecy, you can bet anywhere. The trap is insured against rain and falling clods of earth. You can put it for a long time, if the fixative is, say, pure ethylene glycol (antifreeze). Actually, the problems of protecting traps were discussed in a neighboring topic. Disadvantages-large beetles are not caught.
For an abstract on the material, see the Canadian Entomologist
http://pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/ent/n04-029.html
more applications of nordlander traps in canada
http://web.unbc.ca/~lindgren/RESEARCH/dmccoll/index.html
a very informative selection of opinions on the advantages and disadvantages of various retainers, including an opinion on Nordlander traps, is available here
http://www.coleoptera.org/p786.htm

Personally, my opinion is that this is an interesting and worthy test. I have already noticed in Auchan excellent round containers for carrying breakfast for 10-5 rubles.
I would make some changes to the design - the holes should not be made round or longitudinally slotted, but rather vertical slits. Since after digging, for various reasons, the soil level at the holes may drop and insects will not be able to run into them.

This post was edited by Proctos - 05/26/2007 05: 39

Pictures:
picture: trap1.jpg
trap1.jpg — (83.27к)

picture: trap2.jpg
trap2.jpg — (112.14к)

Comments

26.05.2007 21:56, Aleksey Adamov

I wouldn't rush to comment. The problem of soil traps (Barber traps and their derivatives) is very complex and multifaceted. A lot depends on "who" you are going to catch and "why". This type of trap is not fundamentally new – it is only a more convenient version (already mass-produced) of a trap with a "roof", and it probably has the same disadvantages. What it is definitely good for is probably fishing with bait, when the true density of the species is not needed.

The size and shape of the holes are not entirely fundamental. I have watched a hundred times how in the field beetles go into a glass (plastic 0.5 l, without lids and retainers), the vast majority (!) approaching the edge of the cup, turns 90-180 degrees. and scratching. After that, I began to think about the fact, but who still falls there? Bugs caught in a panic, or is it pure suicide, or maybe curiosity?

Soil traps (their modifications and individual properties) deserve serious methodological research.

This post was edited by Adamov - 05/26/2007 21: 57