moth trap

[Farplace]

What is the easiest/best way to make a moth trap? I have heat lamps and IR lamps.... Can i use either of these?

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by Farplace

What is the easiest/best way to make a moth trap? I have heat lamps and IR lamps.... Can i use either of these?

You need a mercury vapour lamp, neither of these lamps would be effective. You then need a funnel and a large plastic box, or bin. You also need a way of keeping the lamp dry incase it rains, like a large jam jar or something like that.

[Farplace]

do you have pictures?

[Dogghound]

I dont have my moth trap at the moment, so carnt take any photo's. Im sure one of the many trappers on here will place a few photos on this thread for you look at.

P.S I built my own trap and it works very well.

[Miss Caretaker]

Hi, it doesn't have to be a mercury vapour bulb; I use fish tank lighting (tubes) and as long as they give out some UV light it should attract moths.
This is the trap I made using the plans on the atropos website (under garden moths I think). It works OK although it is not great at retaining moths and you'd need more egg boxes than are shown in my pictures!

Hope this helps a bit, sorry it's a bit rushed but I've got to go out!
Jo

[Dogghound]

I believe the optimum performance is gained from an MV lamp, or that is what I have been told and mine gets good numbers.

[pete76]

I think actinic tubes give you about one third of the quantity of moths that an MV bulb will. MV bulbs do have downsides though, they are very bright which may be a problem if you have close neighbours, plus the sheer quantity may be overwhelming if you're new.

[Miss Caretaker]

Yes, MV bulbs are better, but not essential. Having only started trapping fairly recently myself I know that if I had been using an MV from the start and catching 100-150 moths per session I would have been overwhelmed. Personally I would not recommend starting with an MV unless you have numerous hours free to devote to identifying all the moths you're going to get! If you only have 30-40 moths (or 9 like I had last night!) it's a lot better to spend the time properly identifying the few you have until you get your eye in than rushing as you've already spent 3 hours on it and still have 100+ to go. As mentioned previously, MV lights are also only any good if you either have very accommodating or very few neighbours
Jo

[Pete Collins]

Originally Posted by pete76

.... MV bulbs do have downsides though, they are very bright which may be a problem if you have close neighbours, plus the sheer quantity may be overwhelming if you're new.

Good points, pete76. I'm new to mothing and have an MV light in my trap. I quickly realised that I needed to put it in a corner behind the garage so that it didn't disturb the neighbours (well, no complaints so far!). I was almost overwhelmed by the number of moths I got the first time I tried my trap - I spent about 5 hours photographing them (and most of the next week ID'ing them, with lots of help from the helpful folks on WAB!). But I enjoyed every minute of it! And the next time it was so much easier as I now new the 2-3 species that made up 50% of the catch.

[pete76]

The catch is still pretty good with actinic tubes - I'm up to 245 macro species in my garden now with mine. I'm still thinking of getting a MV light for next year though. The bug has well and truly bitten over here - it's a very satisfying, addictive and enjoyable hobby.