Pitfall Traps

[Alex S.]

So who else uses pitfall traps to capture ground-dwelling insects? I have several of them and they are an awesome method. Great for catching predacious ground beetles (Carabidae), rove beetles (Staphylinidae), and darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae). Just wondering what insects others have caught using this method.

Alex S.

 

[redhourglass]

Hello Alex,

I used the pitfall traps in the past to collect arthropods but to your question with insects ... ANTS and may be problematic if the pitfall traps are used for live collecting.

This method is a great survey tool and requires frequent 'look in' and then the sorting out is time consuming pending the amount of pit falls and the catch.

Sinc. Chad

 

[Navaros]

I use pitfalls. I usually catch different wood roaches, crickets, carabids ,and darkling beetles.

 

[cichlidsman]

hear in newfoundland all you would catch is shrews. and if anything els falls in trap the shrew will eat it. they will even eat each other.

 

[danread]

Tomorrow morning I've got to go out to the field site i work on and dig in 60 pitfall traps into two wheat fields They are put there to catch Pterostichus melanarius mainly, as they are what we use in our studies. They are incredibly abundant in agricultural fields, you can get anythng up to 30 P. melanarius in one trap on a good night. We also catch a few other Carabids, including P. cupreus, P. niger, Carabus granulus, and C. violaceus (my favorite). A fair few other things turn up in the traps, including slugs (mostly Deroceras reticulatum), earwigs (Dermaptera) and Rove beetles (Staphylinidae).
Once we've finished with these traps, i'd like to try putting a load in hedgerows, i think it will catch a much more interesting variety of ground insects, beetles and bugs.

Cheers,

 

[Alex S.]

Hello Alex,

I used the pitfall traps in the past to collect arthropods but to your question with insects ... ANTS and may be problematic if the pitfall traps are used for live collecting.

This method is a great survey tool and requires frequent 'look in' and then the sorting out is time consuming pending the amount of pit falls and the catch.

Sinc. Chad

Hi Chad, you are right that ants can occasionally be a problem. Although it is still interesting to observe the ants hunt and bring down various insects. I check my pitfalls on a daily basis, though, so they are usually not a problem.

Alex S.

 

[Alex S.]

Tomorrow morning I've got to go out to the field site i work on and dig in 60 pitfall traps into two wheat fields They are put there to catch Pterostichus melanarius mainly, as they are what we use in our studies. They are incredibly abundant in agricultural fields, you can get anythng up to 30 P. melanarius in one trap on a good night. We also catch a few other Carabids, including P. cupreus, P. niger, Carabus granulus, and C. violaceus (my favorite). A fair few other things turn up in the traps, including slugs (mostly Deroceras reticulatum), earwigs (Dermaptera) and Rove beetles (Staphylinidae).
Once we've finished with these traps, i'd like to try putting a load in hedgerows, i think it will catch a much more interesting variety of ground insects, beetles and bugs.

Cheers,

Hey danread, thats awesome! What a nice variety of carabids! I'v caught a couple nice Pasimachus californicus specimens here. Its always really exciting when your about to check the traps!

Aex S.