Araba Bioscan SLAM comparison 15-19 November 2020

Data for the period 15-19 November 2020

• Sample images
• Environmental measurements
• Previous: Araba Bioscan 6-13 November 2020
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See the Araba Bioscan Project page for background information on the project and methods.

Notes

There has been a noticeable imbalance in the insects collected in the Araba Bioscan Malaise trap to date. The vast majority of larger insects have been moths, with rather few flies or wasps. This week, I chose to add a second trap (a SLAM trap which operates like a small Malaise trap with four access quadrants instead of two sides) positioned around 10 m away in slightly more exposed spot. This page provides an overview of the material caught in this trap. The balance was very different with many more beetles, including three Euomma lateralis Boheman, 1858 (Tenebrionidae: Alleculinae) and one Pterohelaeus striatopunctatus Boisduval 1835 (Tenebrionidae: Tenebrioninae), and cockroaches, including one Robshelfordia circumducta (Walker, 1869) and seven Johnrehnia concisa (Walker, 1871) (both Ectobiidae: Blatellinae), and a larger number of insects overall. This was despite this trap only being deployed for less than five complete days.

This has encouraged me to set up a second Malaise trap in the position used for the SLAM trap and to compare this in the coming week with the original trap. Assuming a greater diversity of insects also occurs in the new Malaise trap, I will decommission the first one and effectively restart the clock on the project.

The collecting medium was 95% isopropyl alcohol.

Environmental measurements

Sunrise and sunset sourced from Sunrise-Sunset and relate to the listed date. All other measurements are calculated for the 24-hour period to 09:00.