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Post by mothman55 on Apr 3, 2021 13:53:40 GMT -8
I bought a couple of bait traps from Bioquip last year, and they did not trap a single catocala. Catocala are abundant in the ravine behind my house east of Toronto. I bait a few trees every year from mid July to the end of September, and I get catocala pretty much every night. This past season I got 20 different catocala species. A typical night I bait about 10 trees and get anywhere from 5 (slow night) to 25 (very good night). I hung the two traps in the same area with the same bait. I watched catocala come to the bait on a bit of sponge centred on the platform, and leave they way they came, not fly up into the mesh cone. The traps worked great for yellow jackets and bald faced hornets, and small micro moths, but no catocala. I have read that these type of traps can be productive, so I don't get it. I even tried reducing the space between the hanging platform and the trap, to maybe an inch to see if that might help, to no avail. Any thoughts/advice is appreciated.
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Apr 3, 2021 15:34:04 GMT -8
Send me some pictures of you Bait Traps. If you have Catocala coming to your bait on trees but not your traps. It is without a doubt the design of your Bait Trap.
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Post by mothman55 on Apr 3, 2021 15:51:08 GMT -8
Here it is.
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Post by exoticimports on Apr 3, 2021 15:53:41 GMT -8
There’s a whole lot I don’t like about that trap.
Chuck
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Post by Paul K on Apr 3, 2021 16:59:43 GMT -8
I made exactly the same style and after few attempts I cut off this funnel entry. The moths and butterflies simply bounce back down and finally end up crawling out not in to a trap.
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Post by trehopr1 on Apr 3, 2021 17:33:36 GMT -8
Looks to me like a mighty nice Trap.
First rate in design and size. Great looking trap.
Heck, you should be able to catch Morpho's with that forest "hoover" !
I agree indeed with leptraps remarks. If the baits are drawing moths than there surely must be a design flaw present.
But, really leptraps is the expert in this arena.
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Post by livingplanet3 on Apr 3, 2021 18:47:38 GMT -8
I have a trap that's nearly identical to that one, but it lacks the cone. Instead, it's the " lip type" design, with an 8" aperture just above where the bait tray is placed. It seems to me that this design might possibly lead to better entrapment? The height and diameter of the bait tray is undoubtedly also of significance in making the trap effective? I assume that what you want to create, is a situation where the entry space around the bait tray is rather narrow, so that any insects (including Lepidoptera) that crawl up through that space would then have difficulty exiting via same way they came in, and would instead move up into the net cylinder, seeking some other way out?
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Apr 4, 2021 2:20:30 GMT -8
The BioQuip Bait Trap in the photograph is the original Leptraps Bait Trap design with the inverted funnel. Once in the trap, it is 99.9% escape proof. The problem was getting the butterfly/moth to negotiate the funnel.
The "Flat Bottom" design was much easier for Lepidoptera to negotiate and is 85% escape proof. The Slotted Pan Bait Trap is 99% escape proof.
I have a Duralife Slotted Pan Bait Trap that I have had hanging in my back yard in Kentucky for eleven (11) years. When I moved to Ohio, it now hangs in my back yard. It is on its second year here in Aurora, Ohio.
Once you deploy a Bait Trap, you must be faithful to it. I check my Bait Traps twice (2) a day, AM and PM. My Bait Traps are designed to be used 24-7-365.
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Post by mothman55 on Apr 4, 2021 9:07:34 GMT -8
Thanks Leptraps, think I will remove the inverted cone and convert my traps to the flat bottom design. Not much point in being 99.9% escape proof if the catocala won't negotiate the cone. I found some of your design photos on an old post, should be easy to make the change. The slotted pan design looks interesting as well, but somehow I don't see as many catocala entering via the slot versus the flat bottom entry. Maybe I will convert one to flat bottom and the other to slotted pan to compare capture rates. Anyway, thanks for the input, at least I won't go through another season with what has failed thus far.
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Post by Chris Grinter on Apr 4, 2021 9:43:27 GMT -8
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Post by livingplanet3 on Apr 4, 2021 9:57:30 GMT -8
mothman55 - the butterfly in your profile image, is that a melanic aberrant of P. canadensis?
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Post by mothman55 on Apr 4, 2021 15:12:15 GMT -8
mothman55 - the butterfly in your profile image, is that a melanic aberrant of P. canadensis? Yes, a Papilio canadensis fletcheri. I was lucky enough to spot it last June in Southern Ontario, and yes, I did catch it.
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Post by livingplanet3 on Apr 4, 2021 15:28:42 GMT -8
Very nice! I have P. glaucus in my area, though I've never seen any aberrant specimens (males or females). I do occasionally see the dark form females of glaucus, however. Here's a great example of an aberrant P. rutulus - bugguide.net/node/view/199604
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Post by mothman55 on Apr 4, 2021 15:34:40 GMT -8
Interesting article. The Jalas bait trap is based on the moth leaving the bait and going "down" a funnel into a lower chamber (like a light trap), while our bait traps are based on the moth flying "up" into the containment area. I wonder if some species exit up and others down. Interesting.
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Apr 5, 2021 3:19:51 GMT -8
Before I am accused of bragging, I will start from the beginning. In the early 1970's, a Michigan Lepidopterist had a "Butterfly Bait Trap" made of coat hangers and bridle screen. And, it worked very Well. I knew I could do better. And I did. And the name Leptraps came to be.
I designed both the "Flat Bottom Bait Trap" and the "Slotted Pan Bait Trap". And, I am a user of my own products. The "Dura-Life Bait Trap" made of Lumite Screen (A Woven screen Material coated with plastic.) I have a Slotted Pan Bait Trap that has being hanging in a Black Locut Tree going on 12 years and looks like new.
I have sixteen (16) personal Bait Traps, (All of my personal Bait Traps are made of Lumite Screen.) and are "Slotted Pan Type". However, my personal Bait Traps are of a universal design. I simply remove the Platform from the bottom of the Trap cylinder and insert a "Slotted Pan".
One more thing. The most frequently ask questions about my Bait Traps. "How do you keep Ground Squirrels, Chipmunks and Field Mice from getting into the Bait Trap and consuming the Bait as well as the entrapped Butterflies and Moths. Mix some Vasoline and Tobasco Sauce and coat the tether line with the mixture. You will give them a Mexican Hot Foot. It will keep them out every time.
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