Cute Critters!

[Overread]

Another day another moth trap*! Got a few more this time

As before using the top off the trap for the white table; Taken with Canon 7D, Sigma 70mm macro and a flash. I'm honestly thinking of getting a ringflash for this kind of work; or even trying to get something setup to hold a flash either side (I'd use my twinflash but the heads on that are not diffused as easily, but I might give it a try)

As always any comments/critiques are most welcome!

*I should point out that I set it up in a totally different location to the first day. Same general site but different area and probably won't set it up again for a while - don't want to stress the moths out every night!

 

[Steven Dillon]

Are the moths fairly calm after having been trapped? Interesting concept to get good subjects.

 

[Overread]

With the trap I'm using is a heath trap; its basically box with a florescent light. The box is full of eggboxes which serve as cover/shade/hiding places and the light draws them in. They then bed down and come early morning one heads out to see what's inside.

In general most are fairly docile in the early morning; being cooler and thus more torpid like most insects. They've no real concept that they are trapped.

It provides an ideal way to collect the moths, survey them and then release them doing minimal harm. The most harm you could do is if you trapped repeatedly day after day; and thus seriously disrupted their behaviour. Otherwise its a standard method used for survey work and where you are not able/willing to be up in the late night using a lamp and bedsheet as an alternative lure.

Granted you do lose moths and the heath-trap does lose a proportion, but its a cheap and simple approach and for the kind of stuff I'm doing fits the bill.



Once released they tend to be torpid for the most part; though the longer the day goes and the warmer it gets the more they will wake up. Being exposed to sunlight and also being moved around can make them wake up as well. I even saw one moth (an Orange Swift I believe) shaking its body, almost like a shiver. A method I know bees perform to generate heat energy with their muscles to warm up and take flight (and this moth did indeed take off soon after).
So yes they can be docile enough for photography, but will always run the risk of flying off at the slightest chance (like any wildlife).

 

[BrentC]

Is it specifically moths that get attracted or do find other critters as well?

 

[Overread]

Any critter attracted by light will generally come toward the lure. I've found shieldbugs both times I've been out as well as other insects. Moths tend to predominate as they are mobile and the traps are setup at night; but its not limited to moths. And that excludes other insects who might choose to hide within the trap because its dark inside and shaded and thus safe from predators.

 

[Steven Dillon]

Any critter attracted by light will generally come toward the lure. I've found shieldbugs both times I've been out as well as other insects. Moths tend to predominate as they are mobile and the traps are setup at night; but its not limited to moths. And that excludes other insects who might choose to hide within the trap because its dark inside and shaded and thus safe from predators.

Overread,
Thanks for the additional info!