Insect baits

I want to tell you about a special very catchy brew, which I invented by accident. Although, it is unlikely that I was the only one who came up with this, but nowhere did I come across any information about this. Maybe someone will find it interesting and useful. I experimented for fun with traditional beer, honey, yeast, and so on. I poured it into bottles with cut-out windows a la crown traps. Only I was too lazy to throw ropes into the crown, raise and lower traps, so I just placed them between the branches at the level of my chest and head. The goal in terms of systematic groups was vague - to see who in our area even flies to such a thing-crawls.

In the first few days, the results were poor. I don't even remember that there were exactly a couple of ground beetles and ants. But at the places of oak sap flow, located nearby, katokals, various scoops, hornets, flies flew all over, and all sorts of beetles wandered. In general, the difference was quite significant. Yes, and my humble human sense of smell found the smell of fermented oak juice not that it would be more attractive, but very specific and strong. And my brew smelled simple... brazhkoy. It would seem that the matter is in the chemical composition of oak juice and the only solution is to collect it like birch. But in fact, everything turned out to be much more interesting and, at the same time, easier to implement. A couple of days passed and my brew in the traps smelled exactly like oak juice, but only even stronger! And it started: during the night, the bottle turned out to contain more insects than liquid.

[attachmentid()=231929]

There's still half an apricot in the middle for the experiment. but even without it, the effect was similar.

Catocals responded very well to this smell: dozens of them came together at dusk. It was clear that they were flying straight linearly from the depths of the forest from all directions. But they had to be caught with a net while still approaching, otherwise they got stuck and spoiled, and then the hornets were pulled apart:

[attachmentid()=231930]

I think it makes sense to impregnate some hygroscopic material with "oak mash" and already put it in a trap, then it is possible. you will be able to make an automatic trap and spend the night, as expected, in bed. It didn't come to that then. The maximum that I made was a kind of filter made of dry grass above the surface of the mash . Thus, it was possible to catch a couple of completely intact Catocala sponsas in automatic mode. In the morning, I just threw a cotton wool soaked in chloroform inside and wrapped the entrance hole with a plastic bag. In the end, not the slightest hint of downed scales.

Over time, I realized the secret: the smell is given by a special kind of yeast that lives on the oak bark. Later, I made sure of this when this specific aroma first came from a jar of water and young branches of ordinary oak (it was necessary to open the buds in winter), as well as when sprouting acorns of red oak. So the recipe for "oak mash" is simple: any sweet syrup with the addition of parts of fresh oak bark. True, not every time it turns out, apparently, oak yeast does not always compete in a very far from sterile environment. But maybe it's even easier. I was riding in a trolleybus once, and suddenly I smelled that very aroma, and quite strong. As a result of a quick visual inspection, the source was found - an uncorked can of Revo drink in the hands of one of the passengers. I don't know how you can drink it - they don't argue about tastes - but in my humble opinion, it's worth trying to catch it. If it turns out similar to "oak mash". and I regard the probability of this as very high, because the smell is one-in-one, then the trouble with the bait will be an order of magnitude less: I bought it in the store and in the forest. I, however, did not reach this point: after evaluating the possibilities and disadvantages of the method, I quickly abandoned it. Moreover, it has very little to do with catching objects of my research interests. It's just a senseless mass murder. But for coleopterologists, dipterologists, and lepidopterologists, my observations may be useful.

Yes, I almost forgot the most important thing: it was in Donetsk, in an oak forest plantation, in late July-early August 2009.

Yeast races are over some variety is given during fermentation, but still, such a miracle as the formation of wine from sugar with water only because of the culture of grape yeast is a dubious matter, you can not do without the Highest forces

Therefore, it may still be a matter of specific aromatic substances released from the bark of the same oak, and the question is whether there was live fermentation in the first version or just fermentation with dead yeast, which is usually on sale

So for the purity of the experiment, you still need to get a wine culture of yeast, and ferment the ingredients with / without oak bark and check what will happen Well, and microscopize it, of course, you can not distinguish yeast by race under a microscope, but you can accurately determine whether it is saccharomyces or other yeast-like organisms in general. This should have been done first

On the Discovery channel, not so long ago, there was a series of programs about some extravagant American brewers who traveled all over the world in search of yeast of various types (races, strains, I can't discuss terminology), put "yeast traps" on the banks of the Nile in order to repeat the recipe of the Pharaohs, etc. they were mad with fat.

I consider the version with substances made from oak bark extremely doubtful: well, how much will a couple of crumbs that have fallen into the trap affect it? Pure homeopathy! And the smell of pure oak bark is not the same at all, everyone who rinsed her mouth with decoction will understand me. The smell that attracts insects is the smell of fermentation, but specific, not beer. In nature, it is characteristic of fermented oak sap, for example, it is by this smell that I often found places of sap flow, usually surrounded by interesting insects. Only from the "mash" in the bottle, the smell is an order of magnitude more powerful and the number of attracted insects corresponds.

As for microbiological studies of the nature of the phenomenon, this should probably be suggested in another section of the forum. Entolmologists and collectors, I think, will be more interested in the practical side of the issue, which I believe I have described in sufficient detail. Of course, an aqueous solution of pure sucrose is obviously not an option (after all, sources of nitrogen, phosphorus and other substances are also needed for the vital activity of yeast), but compote, a highly diluted solution of honey, a mixture of the latter with beer - all this under the magical influence of the smallest pieces of oak bark gives the desired aroma during the day. You can probably still try birch sap - it will be the closest to the original version from among the widely available ones. But I only doubt the need for such a strong approximation. And without that, insects stick with terrible force.

This post was edited by ENO-07/28/2015 13: 44

Well, in principle, just for intersea it's easy to do, for everyone who wants, here I am-even without leaving the house I will put on the balcony an option with wine yeast (yes, there are such right now ) and with pieces of oak bark, as I understand it, you don't need to make yeast, but you need to wait for fermentation from making cortex)

Of course, an aqueous solution of pure sucrose is obviously not an option.

I don't agree! So in 2009, for lack of more sophisticated ingredients, I made a bait from sugar syrup and yeast. As a result, complete traps with Fiberi and Marmorata.

People, what kind of bait do you use to catch glassworms? How do you make them? Maybe you can recommend recipes .

As far as I know, glassworms are caught on pheromones.

As far as I know, glassworms are caught on pheromones.

Thank you, but I know about pheromones! I'm just wondering if they can still be caught somehow, because I rarely see them during the day. By the way, where can I buy pheromones?

Company Biotech Systems, I can give the representative number

Biotech Systems company, I can give you the representative's number

Reset in PM

And so, I tried this recipe: one tablespoon of honey, mix with hot water, then add a quarter liter of kvass "Taras" and add 10-15 raisins . I waited until the drink turned sour (3-4 days). I tried it, dipped it in cheesecloth (I hung 7 of them) and hung it at dusk. In the morning I come at 7 o'clock, and there is nothing on the gauze, except that there were ants on two of them . The recipe failed . Can you tell me what to add to the recipe and what is better to remove from it ?

you need to come at night...

you need to come at night...

And I thought it was because of the kvass, because it's not real . Unfortunately, I do not have the opportunity to hunt at night, so can you tell me another way that would be without night intervention, while the season is in full swing, but with the use of baits?

Do you have to come at night for glass cases? I would never have thought it.

 


[attachmentid()=231929]


Catocals responded very well to this smell: dozens of them came together at dusk. It was clear that they were flying straight linearly from the depths of the forest from all directions. But they had to be caught with a net while still approaching, otherwise they got stuck and spoiled, and then the hornets were pulled apart:

[attachmentid()=231930]

I think it makes sense to impregnate some hygroscopic material with "oak mash" and already put it in a trap, then it is possible. you will be able to make an automatic trap and spend the night, as expected, in bed. It didn't come to that then. The maximum that I made was a kind of filter made of dry grass above the surface of the mash . Thus, it was possible to catch a couple of completely intact Catocala sponsas in automatic mode. In the morning, I just threw a cotton wool soaked in chloroform inside and wrapped the entrance hole with a plastic bag. In the end, not the slightest hint of downed scales.



Yes, I almost forgot the most important thing: it was in Donetsk, in an oak forest plantation, in late July-early August 2009.

And try to make a trap like this. The brew is clean and the material is flaky. As time has shown, katokals fly into such a trap willingly. The first couple of days can be almost empty while it's sparkling up. The only bad thing is that hornets also get there, which can damage butterflies. In the standard recipe for brew (beer, honey, sugar, water, yeast) I put an overripe pear.

Thank you. If I was purposefully engaged in catocals, I would definitely try it out. And so it's too hemorrhoid, it's almost a whole terrarium turns out. And still try to make a brew according to my recipe for comparison.

And I used to catch catokal in a worker-peasant way-with a jar ( for people like fulminea and their own kind - 0.5 liters, and for fraxini and their own kind-1 liter). In the park I will walk, look out, and catch, the main thing during the hunt is not to step on a dry leaf or branch!

Thank you. If I was purposefully engaged in catocals, I would definitely try it out. And so it's too hemorrhoid, it's almost a whole terrarium turns out. And still try to make a brew according to my recipe for comparison.

I will definitely experiment with the brew, but the trap turned out to be small 30x15x15 in centimeters.

They come from all over the forest to oak brew themselves - you don't have to go looking for them and sneak up on them. And the audience can already be, probably, and a jar. But for some reason I have never met a blue one, either in the forest or in the city. Did I set the brew traps in mid-late August? so it was mostly C. sponsa and a few battered remnants of the battered C. promissa that came in. There was also one small orange-winged bird, but it flew out from under the nose. Not even fat, that even katokala. Not fulminea exactly, that in May I found in places of natural sap flow.

Do you have to come at night for glass cases? I never would have thought of that.

you're thinking the wrong way. not a word about glass girls in that post

Nick444444, read the whole topic, you won't find much
interesting stuff.
for example:
http://molbiol.ru/forums/index.php?showtop...dpost&p=1084338

There was also one small orange-winged bird, but it flew out from under the nose. Not even fat, that even katokala. Not fulminea exactly, that in May I found in places of natural sap flow.

It's a pity that we didn't have time. All the yellow and orange kotokals that live in oak forests (at least in our country) are quite rare, I came across one once.

Nick444444, read the whole topic, you won't find much
interesting stuff.
for example:
http://molbiol.ru/forums/index.php?showtop...dpost&p=1084338

Thank you, just a couple of minutes before your post, I had an idea with a bucket from under the water

vafdog, there are not many words in the message at all, but in previous messages Nick444444 was interested in the bait specifically for glassworms. Then he unsubscribed about testing the mash on gauze. It turns out that something in the topic is not agreed, and I do not have psychic abilities. As for the trap described in cdjob's post at the link: it is gratifying to see that the stupid entomologists ' thoughts converge, the design almost exactly corresponds to the one I described a little higher (only I had a more primitive version with grass instead of gauze and a simple window cut out on the side instead of an inverted neck). And similarly, the catch suffered from hornet raids.

Well, I also did not think" psychically", but logically, two different messages are two different goals..
I read your message and thanked you for it.

Nick444444, I'm wondering what kind of object you're fishing for with gauze. Here is vafdog-clearly aware, as advised to catch at night, but I-unfortunately not. Or is it classified information?

Glass jars, except in traps with pheromones, are also perfectly caught by mowing. However, this is in May-June. I don't know if there are any imagos of any species in nature now, or if all of them have already passed away.

This post was edited INO-09.08.2015 16: 36

Well, I don't know about pheromones, I haven't tried it, but such a beauty flew into the trap with a brew.

Nick444444, I'm wondering what kind of object you're fishing for with gauze. Here is vafdog-clearly aware, as advised to catch at night, but I-unfortunately not. Or is it classified information?

Secret object)
Ezoks, well, you give)) What is not clear is that gauze is used to increase the area of the smell source, and you need to come at night because it is gauze and not a trap, and by the end of the night everyone is flying away from it

Roma, stop smoking that weed.Your neurons are going to explode by the end of the night." Yes, of course, why gauze and why brew, it is unclear who exactly Nick444444 wanted to catch it. Based on what is written, only ants can be excluded. And in the daytime, too, many people fly to such bait: wasps, beetles are different. But if according to the method you need to catch at night, then they are catching some kind of nocturnal "beast", the only question is which one.

But if according to the method you need to catch at night, then they are catching some kind of nocturnal "beast", the only question is which one.

Netted marley is caught

Or is it classified information?

Secret object)

Nick444444, I'm wondering what kind of object you're fishing for with gauze. Here is vafdog-clearly aware, as advised to catch at night, but I-unfortunately not. Or is it classified information?

First of all, it was the first time I tried to trap moths . I admit it didn't work out. But everyone learns from mistakes . Next time, I'll make sure that the butterflies stay trapped instead of flying in for free . Which one will arrive, which one will arrive - all for the sake of interest, but scoops and moths will not suit me .

Thanks for the explanation. For some reason, I thought that we were talking about a particular species or group. Medoviki with gauze is not a trap, you need to be on duty near them. Inspired by this theme, I suddenly also decided to remember the past and make a catocal trap. Suddenly the blue one will fly in. Today I started my own oak brew. However, I'm not sure what will happen, since the oak branches found at home were no longer the first freshness. If it doesn't work out, we'll have to go to the woods to get a fresh bark sample.

I don't dispute the phenology of glassworms, but for some reason, when mowing on grass, I only came across them in May and June. There were a lot of them. Types were not defined, just released.

So the "oak mash", as I feared, failed. Rather, it was just a success brew. Made from cherry plum compote and honey. The compote was already slightly sour, apparently, ordinary yeast got into it somehow. So I went into the woods to get some fresh leaven. I decided to use a syringe to collect fermented juice directly. As many as five times! All sochniki dried up. From one, I broke a little darkened bark, on which the juice used to flow, in the hope that the yeast was still there. I added this bark to the failed mash and to a fresh solution of honey (in the latter I also threw a ripe apricot. But this is also a bummer. Apparently, all the yeast died on that bark. The mash of compote remained just a mash, the honey solution instead of fermenting began to stink. some fungi and bacterial snot began to grow in it, a la "Tibetan kombucha".

Still, after about a week of baking with pieces of oak bark, the first mash (compote) began to emit, in addition to a sour smell, and a barely perceptible aroma from it. In the hope that in the usual environment of the forest it will reach, I made a trap out of baklaga from under the mineral water. The problem of drowning butterflies was solved simply: I placed a large piece of foam rubber on the bottom, which I soaked with mash. I came up with an original mechanism for freezing production: I picked up a plastic jar from the medicine "Yogurt", which tightly plugged the neck of the baklaga. I stuffed it with cotton wool. I intended to moisten this cotton wool with ethyl acetate and plug the neck with this jar before removing the trap. I set up a trap last night in a rather remote and promising place. During the installation process, I even saw one katokala of an unfamiliar type with brick-red rear wings. I went home in anticipation of a rich catch.

But in the morning the elements intervened: suddenly the heaviest downpour began, the first in a month. At first, I wanted to run into the woods right there, right in the pouring rain, before all the dozens or even hundreds of catocals that were crammed into my trap, as I imagined, turned into drowned women. But I didn't. And that's right: the rain completely stopped after half an hour. Then I went to the forest, rightly believing that during this time a lot of water could not be collected in the tank.

On the approach, the smell was almost invisible - a very bad sign. Traps with my "branded" oak mash, which I wrote about above, could be smelled for 20 meters.

Fears were fully confirmed, the tank was empty, except for two earwigs, one myrmica and a few flies:

[attachmentid()=234164]
[attachmentid()=234165]


The jar-stopper for soaking was never tested. I left the trap there with the faint hope that the useless brew, and even generously diluted with rainwater, would eventually "get smarter".

Conclusions:

1. If rain is expected, it is mandatory to equip the trap
with a visor, if rain is not expected (according to weather forecasters) - even more so.
2. A simple brew with the usual sour smell, well-known moonshiners, for catching our, Donetsk, butterflies is unsuitable a little less than completely. Except for flies.

Dear forumchane, I offer a detailed recipe for bait and the result of fishing on it

So, it has long been known that fast butterflies love exactly "Fast" beer, which served as the basis of the bait

0.75 (where the rest went is a mystery) I boiled a little to remove the carbon dioxide and slightly "thicken" the beer itself

Then I added exactly 4 tablespoons with a mound of honey

The mixture boils further while stirring, not for long

Caution! Don't let the product escape

Then turn off the heat and be sure to let it cool, so as not to kill the organisms contained in the rotten fruit, which must be crushed properly before being placed in the mixture, I took pears, apricots and grapes, the latter was fresh

Almost ready bait stood, wandered for 3 days, a few hours before leaving for the evil and terrible, dark forest, cotton rags are thrown into the bait.

We choose a place, a deciduous forest for example with all kinds of tree species and go there, look! Not too late, so I don't have to hang up the rags in the dark like I do

We hang rags on branches and tree trunks in some more or less open area and wait


by the way not for long

Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to take photos with manual optics without an assistant with a flashlight, so the photo is only one and that is not very good.
Therefore, a photo of straightened copies.
And an approximate list of species, because I have not yet identified new and difficult-to-recognize ones.
Amphipyra sp.
Noctua pronuba
Noctua orbona(?)
Catocala nupta
Catocala fraxini
Simplicia rectalis
Xestia xanthographa(?)
Mesoligia furuncula
Diarsia brunnea(?)
Melanchra persicaria






Thank you for your attention

Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to take photos with manual optics without an assistant with a flashlight,

Simultaneously with the camera, I hold a small flashlight in my left hand, which I use to illuminate the subject. Also, you can make a plastic ring that you can put on the lens. Attach the LED + wire to the battery on the ring. But this system didn't work for me.

Simultaneously with the camera, I hold a small flashlight in my left hand, which I use to illuminate the subject. Also, you can make a plastic ring that you can put on the lens. Attach the LED + wire to the battery on the ring. But this system didn't work for me.

the flashlight disappears, I twist the aperture ring with my left hand, or attach it to the lens...
even the head lamp shines "not there"

This post was edited by vafdog - 24.08.2015 23: 20

And by the way, butterflies are really afraid of bright light, especially catocals, you need to approach with a low-power flashlight.

On the 21st, I visited my trap again. The brew, diluted with rainwater, was completely exhausted, and the same flies and earwigs caught on the first night were still inside, largely decomposed. I had to flush it down the toilet. I washed and wrung out the sponge, on which some kind of white slimy film had grown. again soaked in the remains of the brew, which by this time had acquired exactly the desired smell, but for some reason weak.

I hung it in another place, where I also picked up a catocala of the same unknown type in the process. I checked it out today.

The catch:
1) hornet - 1 piece;
2) flies-several pieces, but there were clearly more, judging by the cuts left by hornets who were more lucky;
3)Lasius ants-up to a fig pieces;
4) various small beetles - about a dozen;
5) finally scoops (but not catocals) - 3 pieces. But something unpleasant happened to these things: they hid in a narrow gap between the walls of the eggplant and its inverted neck, and apparently climbed there for a long time, having stripped off a significant part of the scales. In general, the result was unsatisfactory:

[attachmentid()=235163]
[attachmentid()=235164]

But I still decided to try out a steaming jar-stopper. Let me remind you that the idea was to quickly and technologically soak: I poured ethyl acetate into a cotton-filled jar, plugged it into the neck of the bottle, put it in a bag, and took it home. At home, it remains only to get the frozen material. But it didn't work out. Due to the large volume of the trap combined with poor sealing, it is obvious that the required vapor concentration was not achieved. Only the ants died. The beetles were alive and active (some of them scattered around the room). But the butterflies somehow got under the sponge, which, due to shaking in the campaign, released a fair amount of mash. In general, the result was exactly the same as with a simple liquid-filled vessel (see my previous posts) - the material was damaged to the state of a" standard gray moth " and cannot be determined. Maybe only on the genitals, but that's without me. Although maybe someone will be able to identify the photos taken before this unfortunate event?

Conclusions:

1. In order to avoid clogging butterflies in the above-mentioned gap, you should turn the trap 90 degrees, and so that the open side is shaded, let them beat the bottom and side.
2. Replace foam rubber with a new material. which does not give off liquid as easily, for example, on cotton wool, place it not on the bottom of the eggplant but on the sidewall facing down.
4. Place some kind of butterfly shelter inside, made of bark or cardboard egg trays.
5. Reduce the exposure time of the trap, ideally to one night.
6. Bring the brew to mind so that it exudes not only the right flavor, but also a strong one.

I don't seem to be getting the last few baits." I guess I'm missing out on their stink, since they smell very faintly in nature, and no one flies at them. Now my grape juice has turned sour, I mixed it with dried apples, as well as sugar, a couple of teaspoons of honey. But nothing came. Now this bait is where I poured it out, maybe someone else will fly up during the night, but I didn't want to freeze.