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Post by vabrou on Feb 5, 2022 13:55:33 GMT -8
 Our earliest sesiid collecting (late 1960s) in southeast Louisiana involved the occasional encounter of some species of these fleeting clearwing moths while out hand-netting butterflies which were visiting flowers. We first recorded captured sesiids in ultraviolet light traps during 1970, and have continued to do so for the past 53 years. Although somewhat commonplace today, advancements in insect pheromone research have only been around for a little over 50 years. Our first indoctrination to this fascinating subject occurred around 1964 upon reading an article about trail pheromones used by ants (Wilson, 1963). We first used pheromones to capture clearwing moths around the 1975, when we were privileged to received some of the earlier USDA research formulations. Since that time I have continued collecting clearwings using experimental, commercial, and special order formulations from across the world. As of the year 2022, there are still no traps on the market anywhere in the world for use by clearwing moth collectors. There are bucket type traps which first appeared about 45 years ago, but these were poorly designed for agricultural purposes of determining when pest species are on the wing so counter measurers could be taken to exterminate the pest. These bucket traps are lacking features which allow proper operation and also necessary features for accumulating high quality adults nor accommodating large numbers of specimens. I first re-designed a bucket trap to incorporate several features which allowed the capture of large numbers of adult clearwing moths in pristine condition. These functioned as expected, and we have operated all of these earlier (~1980)still today using these very same improvements made back then. Our clearwing moth trap inventory increased to over 300 units, though over the decades we have culled and discarded 100-150 older weathered traps. Over the decades, we also added over 100-150 additional newer traps with minor improvements in the operation and use. As the decades passed we designed numerous further improved lure traps using common plastic household items, using empty empty inverted 2-liter plastic carbonated drink bottles as the funnel portion of the traps and plastic food containers, plastic plates and other discarded household items. Attached is an earlier example of such trap designs. We have made positive improvements to this illustrated example. Since 1980, 100% of our hundreds of clearwing moth lure traps utilize Cyanide as the killing agent and consequently there are no worn or broken/damaged captures due to the quick knock-down effects of the cyanide. |
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Post by vabrou on Feb 5, 2022 14:04:38 GMT -8
One picture is worth a thousand words .  |
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Post by vabrou on Feb 5, 2022 14:10:08 GMT -8
Another jpg. Screened bottom insert collects moths away from touching the granular cyanide, and in pristine condition.  |
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Post by vabrou on Feb 5, 2022 14:34:00 GMT -8
Here are a few of the 152 lure traps using 672 semiochemical lures in a 26-moth clearwing moth study in NW Louisiana. An additional 100+ traps were operated at our home location at the same time.  |
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Post by trehopr1 on Feb 5, 2022 15:40:58 GMT -8
Your sesiid traps as well as your light traps are certainly varied; the efforts which you put into maintaining them are certainly Herculean.
However, I still quite frankly find it hard to believe that two people are able to check, cull through, and process the biomass which these traps bring in every day.
It seems (somehow) you are able to "attend" the traps, cull out what you want, AND still prepare a measure of them all in the same day. Then, you do it all over again the very next day while still finding time to write papers !
I do get it, that at this point in time and (after so many years) it's probably not so hard to do. Likely, you toss 95% (or more) of what you take in since you've already seen it, recorded it, and have prodigious samples of it all.
Still, it requires enormous unfettered amounts of time and a devotion/dedication well outside the bounds of some of the most "rabid" collectors whom I have ever run into !
Also, your apparent boundless use of cyanide surely means you must have a special license to receive or purchase it. It's not exactly the kind of material that federal, state, or local governments would want in the hands of anyone these days...
I once had a very knowledgeable but, aged collector make me a cyanide killing bottle. He placed masking tape and duct tape all about the bottom just in case I ever dropped the bottle.
I used it sporadically over two summer seasons since I only get out about 8 times in any given summer. Yet, despite it's unqualified knockdown/kill capabilities I couldn't shake the feeling of being "absolutely unnerved" at the danger of having it.
By the end of that second season I promptly buried the jar in a 3 ft deep hole I dug and decided that ethyl acetate was the only way to go after that.
Just my humble thoughts on these matters...
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Post by vabrou on Feb 5, 2022 19:22:20 GMT -8
trehopr1 --- Couldn't have done any of this without daily assistance of my wife Charlotte. Regarding the cyanide, there is no better killing agent in the world. I handled it daily in hundreds of my traps without any type of safety equipment, other than common sense and a garden hose. I do have a few gallons of vinegar handy should I need to counteract the caustic nature of this chemical. No, one doesn't need any special license to obtain it in the USA, though the no-good democraps have passed hundreds of laws in recent decades preventing those without elitist connections from obtaining thousands of chemicals of every type imaginable. I have purchased cyanide both granular and briquettes in 55 gallon drums and 200 kg drums over the past four plus decades. Don't believe anything your hear or read by uninformed nay-sayers on the web. I do not purchase expensive laboratory grade chemicals of any type. My cyanide is always industrial grade (96-98% purity) as I use quite a lot of it running typically 160+ various traps yearly. My last purchase of sodium cyanide was around 448 pounds and those drums were imported into the US from Germany. I run fermenting fruit bait traps, some with attached collection chambers using cyanide as well. I also run dung beetle traps, but these do not use cyanide, as the beetles are captured in plain water, and the captures alive or dead are placed directly into 70% isopropyl alcohol for dispatching and storage. Like everything I do, my dung beetle traps, up to 88 operating some years here at my home property operate differently than everyone else too. I do not dig any holes in the ground and I prepare the poop bait unlike anyone I know as well. I make note that I have handled cyanide daily for the past 47 years and I am still here to tell you about this. I have handled hundreds of far more dangerous chemicals than cyanide over my lifetime, as I worked in analytical chemical plant laboratories for about 8 years when I was younger. I had the unique opportunity to experiment with virtually every chemical an entomologist would potentially use or come in contact with. Besides being a superior killing agent, using cyanide is extremely cost efficient and time saving. E.g. typically I place two pounds of cyanide in each one of my light trap collection chambers twice a year, not every day recharging the trap as you would using say ethyl acetate. In my clearwing moth traps I place fresh cyanide 2-3 time each year.
I collect thousands of dung beetles yearly for the past 47 years, mostly by placing large bowls/pans on the ground half-filled with water and a container of liquid poop in center, see photo. No pitfall traps, no shovels, this is an easy method, though beetles should not remain in water for more than two days.
Regarding discards, I discard about 99.9999% of the captures. I quickly sort through the drawers of specimens for scarce and rare specimens. After all, what is the value of thousands of duplicate common and pest type specimens. Though, I do log the capture dates (in phenograms) and parish records of thousands of these specimens for use in my entomological publications e.g. link: www.academia.edu/42307222/Mythimna_unipuncta_Haworth_1809_Lepidoptera_Noctuidae_in_Louisiana
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Post by trehopr1 on Feb 5, 2022 20:25:16 GMT -8
Thank you Vernon for your kind explanations.
Your trapping systems all appear to work very well (with some phenomenal results) based upon photos which you have shown us.
That dung beetle trap is pretty darn cool in it's simplicity; yet ingenious because there's none of the hard work (involved) using shovels and digging holes etc.
I appreciate the informative threads which you contribute as well as the generous pictures that go along with them !
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Post by tv on Feb 6, 2022 20:07:53 GMT -8
Thanks for the discussion Vernon. What is the recipe for the lure in your dung beetle traps. I think I could probably catch a few around here.
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Post by vabrou on Feb 7, 2022 5:12:08 GMT -8
tv, I have experimented over decades with various barnyard animal feces over the past half century. Several of my neighbors have horse farms along with cattle, swine (pigs/boars), turkeys, donkeys, goats, chickens, etc. A review of the serious scientific literature concerning dung beetles is a varied analysis of numerous concoctions to attract different species. My interest in all beetles is simply to document which species occur out in nature. My specific activities involved placing numerous dozens of dishpans and bowls upon the ground half filled with plain water with a container of liquid poop in the center. Capture of some (day flying species) requires the trap and bait to be in full sun, other are best captured with trap and bait in total shade areas (night flying species). I place my light traps, bait traps, lure traps, beetle traps along established trails or a few open areas as I navigate usually daily on my tractor. E.g. my lure traps are placed a a height level so I can access the hanging traps without having to dismount the tractor to remove the captures. The chemical propionic acid is one that will attract one interesting group of dung beetles, different species feed upon naturally occurring animal/bird dropping in nature, but paramount among a long list of such bait as being the most advantageous to use are obtained from swine and humans. My own bull and cow provided cow patties which when searched contained some specialized beetle species I have not obtained by any other means. Certain smaller species will be collected more abundantly in ground level 'pitfall traps', but the run of the mill beetle collectors are apt to be more interested in the larger and/or colorful (metallic blue and green rainbow colors) and the males which have grand prominent pronotal horns (these larger in size specimens are more likely to be day-fliers). But to reply to your specific question. Over the past 40 years, I have found it easiest to obtain, and best to use human feces as bait in my traps. I store my bait in empty plastic gallon-size milk jug mixed/shaken with about 50% plain water. This way it can be handled (poured) as needed, and handled in a less messy manner. This bait will ferment and do not ever 100% seal the lid on the jug. attached jpg: Phaneus vindex pair, Abita Springs, Louisiana, USA  |
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Post by vabrou on Feb 7, 2022 5:20:01 GMT -8
Phaneus triangularis pair, Abita Springs, Louisiana, USA I have 4 species of Phaneus in Louisiana.  |
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Post by vabrou on Feb 7, 2022 5:30:08 GMT -8
Odonteus species, I have many.  |
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Post by vabrou on Feb 24, 2022 15:09:39 GMT -8
Starting to set out a batch of automatic-capture clearwing moth traps. December 21
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Post by vabrou on Feb 24, 2022 15:25:53 GMT -8
2011 Orleans Parish Louisiana Nature Center property. Vernon sorting through captures in stationary automatic capture Fermenting fruit bait trap. 
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Post by vabrou on Feb 24, 2022 15:32:14 GMT -8
stationary automatic capture Fermenting fruit bait trap mentioned in previous post in this thread. Extra bait in bucket below, and screened cage to prevent access from opossums, squirrels, birds, foxes, various animals, etc. Clearwing moth lure trap in background.
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