Moth Traps

[ollyk]

I have attempted to make a Moth trap with the few materials I have at hand. The trap has been outdoors for 3 nights now and has not caught moths tbh!



Catch so far has been....

lots of 'Heart and Dart' moths and I mean about 15 over the three nights!
1 x other moth not had time to i.d. yet
1 x Plume moth which got away!
1 x pug moth
a couple of micro moths not yet identified
Unidentified click beetle
Orange Ladybird

Anyway, I am using a standard 18 watt compact flo which is perhaps the traps greatest weakness, but I was also wondering if I have the gap set large enough or maybe too small? Maybe my design is completely flawed?
Would it be a good idea to use a BLB compact bulb as advertised for parties etc? I assume moths like UV? Can't really spend much as I am a bit skint tbh!

Would appreciate any advice and other peoples experience!

Olly.

[eeyore]

i would imagine that the big black box above the bulb is the issue - this is masking a lot of light and stopping it attracting moths from afar

oscar2006 and fourwings are your men for this - somewhere around there is a thread by one of them on building a home made moth trap

[ollyk]

Originally Posted by eeyore

i would imagine that the big black box above the bulb is the issue - this is masking a lot of light and stopping it attracting moths from afar

oscar2006 and fourwings are your men for this - somewhere around there is a thread by one of them on building a home made moth trap

thanks Eeyore yeah the black box was only added when I wasn't too sure if there was going to be rain or not but funily enough it seemed to help, as this is when I got the record number of Hearts & Dart's! Also the lamp is still very visible in the eveing..

I will have a look at this thread you mention, but lacking money means I can't justify buying the materials at the moment

[eeyore]

I built one (which i subsequently havent used much due to presures of time) out of a plastic box and a domestic table lamp refitted with a standard 150W sodium bulb - the few times i have used it its given me a decent haul (tho what they were i couldnt tell you) total cost about a tenner

i take it you haveput egg boxes or similar in the base of the trap for the moths to go into - if not they dont tend to stay - beyond that i dont know what to suggest , other than that you could pm steve (fourwings) for advice

[Oscar2006]

1. get rid of the black rain shield for now.
2. can you turn the lamp through 180 degrees so that the light comes out from the trap?
3. try an create a bit of a "baffle" across the middle of the trap so that any moths flying around the lamp will bump into it and fall into the trap. see the 3rd picture in the item below for an idea of what I mean by this.
4. throw an old white sheet under and around the trap as this tends to help "radiate" the light a bit.

Mothing

[ollyk]

Originally Posted by Oscar2006

1. get rid of the black rain shield for now.
2. can you turn the lamp through 180 degrees so that the light comes out from the trap?
3. try an create a bit of a "baffle" across the middle of the trap so that any moths flying around the lamp will bump into it and fall into the trap. see the 3rd picture in the item below for an idea of what I mean by this.
4. throw an old white sheet under and around the trap as this tends to help "radiate" the light a bit.

Mothing

ok thanks Oscar so I am starting again then Have to say your traps look quite impressive! Not sure if I would feel comfortable sitting in front of a MV lamp for any length of time

Just out of interest have you ever tried a BLB lamp? I am thinking with a white sheet you mentioned this will produce visible light and the BLB will produce some ultraviolet..? Maybe even side by side with an ordinary lamp?

What do you think?

[Oscar2006]

not exactly starting again, just modifying - to increase your catch
I've not tried BLB at all

[ARGON]

Try a couple oh halagen lamps the ones you can get for the garden from B&Q water proof. Much stronger light emitted.

[Mr Mag00]

i would like to add that running a trap night after night is not good for moth pop as they need to feed and mate, continual trapping stops this behaviour.

[wildlifesnapper]

Hi

I think your main problem is the bulb.If you don't want to go to the trouble of using a MV bulb and having to fit a choke , use a blended bulb.I use one of these for my trap at home and they are great.No choke needed , just plug it straight into the mains, gives off plenty of UV light.
Don't worry about baffles , you've got a skinner trap, the moths fall down the the slanted plastic. The black top shouldn't make much difference to your catch, in fact you need a rain shield if you are going to us a blended bulb as they run very hot and the slightest drop of rain will shatter it. If you can it may be better to replace it with some clear perspex just to pull in any moths that fly overhead ,the more light the better, although the bulbs are very bright anyway.
Replace the bulb with a 160 watt blended and I'm sure you'll catch a load more.Try Paul Batty for bulbs.Just google "ELG" for the Entomological Livestock Group and then click on moth traps.

neil