The Relationship Between the Size of Yellow Water Traps and Catches of Aphids

Abstract

Yellow water traps are often used for sampling populations of flying aphids. This note suggests that the size and probably the shape of traps should be standardised, because trapping efficiency (nos. caught/unit area), and the relative attractiveness of traps to different species, depends on trap size. Aphidologists using water traps to compare mixed populations of flying aphids, should therefore compare catches from different traps with caution. Traps of three sizes were made up from individual trays, each 29 × 21.5 × 5 cm, and painted Hansa yellow inside; 1 tray alone, 4 arranged in a 2 × 2 rectangle, and 9 in a 3 × 3 rectangle, gave trapping surfaces of approx. 625, 2500 and 5700 cm2 respectively. The traps were half‐filled with water plus a drop of detergent, placed on bare land and daily catches collected on 19 days in June and July 1966.

Sampling Adults with Non-attractant Traps

“…containers, small ground pools), might wet mosquitoes that rest on the water surface to oviposit. The relationship between numbers caught and trap areas was linear on a V X V scale for aphids, with trapping efficiency per unit area decreasing with larger traps (Costa & Lewis, 1968). It was concluded that at least some of the aphids were visually attracted to the traps.…”

STP® AS AN ADHESIVE ON TRAPS USED TO MONITOR FOR ALATE GREEN PEACH APHIDS, MYZUS PERSICAE (SULZER) (HOMOPTERA: APHIDIDAE)

“…Nonsignificant interactions were pooled with residuals. The numbers of aphids caught in the water traps were divided by 2.84 to compensate for the larger surface area of the water trap compared with the STP traps and the numbers in the water trap were multiplied by 1.05 to account for the effect of larger size on efficiency (Costa and Lewis 1967). Data are expressed as either number per day per trap or number per day per square centimetre.…”

Air-borne arthropod fall-out on Anak Krakatau and a possible pre-vegetation pioneer community

“…Trap size itself may affect catch size. Costa & Lewis (1967), using aphid catches in yellow water traps, showed that an approximately 8-fold increase of trap area was associated with an approximate halving of number of aphids per 100 cm2, and species were attracted to traps of different areas differentially.…”