Trapping beetles?

[Gascar]

I fancy catching a few beetles and other interesting things to takep ictures of.
I never seem to find anything alive in my garden apart from slugs and woodlice.
Would you suggest a pitfall trap, or should I wait until it's warmer?

I understand that beetles etc can be kept a few days in a fridge then released.
I was given this fellow:

err, can't remember how to post pictures...

[Deb London]

Brilliant picture, Gascar! I love beetles but, like you, I never see many.

[Wild-Woman]

When I use a pitfall trap I usually set it up and check it every couple of hours. Watch out for heavy rain as even if there's small holes in the bottom of the pot, rain can seep in from the sides and not drain away quick enough. A fine day is better.

[Fauna]

Nice image there Gascar...i believe this is Cychrus caraboides, did it squeak for you

I still have a trap out in my garden, but it is not at all productive at the moment, apart from a few Rove beetles and a Pterostichus niger two days ago.

I'm using the trap dry so probably a lot are escaping, i'm using two plastic vending machine cups placed inside each other. This enables you to take out your catch without comprimising the hole. Make sure the trap is covered over with a board etc to prevent them from flooding. You could always use larger cups and place some shelter like moss in there, this can help to retain some specimens as they have somewhere to hide.

Good luck, and do show us you're pics of your catch

[Meta menardi]

Originally Posted by Fauna

Nice image there Gascar...i believe this is Cychrus caraboides, did it squeak for you

I still have a trap out in my garden, but it is not at all productive at the moment, apart from a few Rove beetles and a Pterostichus niger two days ago.

I'm using the trap dry so probably a lot are escaping, i'm using two plastic vending machine cups placed inside each other. This enables you to take out your catch without comprimising the hole. Make sure the trap is covered over with a board etc to prevent them from flooding. You could always use larger cups and place some shelter like moss in there, this can help to retain some specimens as they have somewhere to hide.

Good luck, and do show us you're pics of your catch

Use a bulb planter that removes a core and the vending cups and you can easily get some specimens. Do remember that if you put 10 traps in, you count them all back out again. I have put specimens in the fridge (usually spiders) but I wouldn't leave them in there for days. I also have a CO2 injector (Sodastream) and a quick wiff of that means you can handle them unconscious, they revive in a very short time. Some people aren't happy with this, and I do think before I do it, but better this than a quick dive into alchohol and no return. Your photo is something I would aspire to, what do you use as equipment?

[Kreacha]

[quote=Fauna;719885]i'm using two plastic vending machine cups placed inside each other. This enables you to take out your catch without comprimising the hole. [quote]

What a good idea - all the soil falls back into the hole when I pull the pot out so I shall do this from now on

[Meta menardi]

Originally Posted by Meta menardi

I also have a CO2 injector (Sodastream) and a quick wiff of that means you can handle them unconscious, they revive in a very short time.

I shpuld make it clear, the invertebrate gets the wiff, and so you remain conscious. Apologies if anyone is now recovering from a CO2 induced sleep.

[Gascar]

I think you're right about the ID, Fauna, well spotted!
Here's anothe pic of the same fellow.
This pic was taken with a cheap 28 to something zoom reversed on a DSLR, hand held. The closer one would have been a shorter lens but I can't remember what. You don't get much in focus so have to "stack" the pictures in photoshop, or something else.
The second image was from perhaps 5 pictures, if you look close you can see where the in-focus parts didn't overlap enough.
Quite a set of chompers (technical term??) on him. I don't think I did him justice.

err,,, is the right way to post images??

[Deb London]

Yes, that seems right, and it's a great photo!

[Gascar]

How deep/shiny inside do these things have to be?
Takeaway containers?

A length of narrow guttering or half-pipe would be a wider trap