A suspended sticky trap was designed to analyze flight behavior of aquatic insects, including both direction and vertical distribution of flight. Specifications of trap construction are detailed. Possible applications were explored and preliminary results from the study of a small Indiana stream demonstrated primary upstream migration of females, and indicated vertical partitioning of flight activity at the species level

Harris, T. L

McCafferty, W. P

English

ValpoScholar

The Great Lakes Entomologist 
Volume 10 
Number 4 - Winter 1977 Number 4 - Winter 
1977 
Article 11 
December 1977 
Assessing Aquatic Insect Flight Behavior with Sticky Traps 
T. L. Harris 
Purdue University 
W. P. McCafferty 
Purdue University 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle 
 Part of the Entomology Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Harris, T. L. and McCafferty, W. P. 1977. "Assessing Aquatic Insect Flight Behavior with Sticky Traps," The 
Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 10 (4) 
Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol10/iss4/11 
This Peer-Review Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Biology at ValpoScholar. 
It has been accepted for inclusion in The Great Lakes Entomologist by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. 
For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu. 
THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 
ASSESSING AQUATIC INSECT FLIGHT BEHAVIOR 
WITH STICKY  TRAPS^ 
T. L. Harris and W. P. ~ c ~ a f f e r t y ~  
ABSTRACT 
A suspended sticky trap was designed to analyze flight behavior of aquatic insects, 
including both direction and vertical distribution of flight. Specifications of trap con- 
struction are detailed. Possible applications were explored and preliminary results from the 
study of a small Indiana stream demonstrated primary upstream migration of females, and 
indicated vertical partitioning of flight activity at the species level. 
Investigations of the aquatic insect fauna of particular habitats, whether it be for life 
history or monitoring studies, are often dependent to some degree on the study of aerial 
adult stages of the aquatic species present (Provonsha and McCafferty, 1975). Because of 
the variation in emergence and flight behavior among aquatic insects, the habitat might 
ideally be sampled continuously, 24 hours a day, over the entire emergence season. Since 
this is not usually feasible, investigators have had to resort to various representative sampling 
methods which may not be ideal. The two methods most commonly utilized by aquatic 
entomologists have been light trapping, and aerial and sweep netting (Lattin, 1968). Both 
methods are unfortunately qualitatively biased, since light trapping must take place at 
lowered light intensities and netting may be efficient only during daylight hours. Emergence 
traps are limited by sample size. Madson et al. (1973) first used a crude sticky trap to 
capture Plecoptera and Ephemeroptera flying over a stream in Denmark. This sampling 
principle was promising since most of the above mentioned sampling bias could be avoided. 
A study was initiated to design and test a unique sticky trap which was hoped would 
greatly improve sampling of running-water insects, and provide a method of assessing flight 
behavior in time and space. The construction details and operation of such a trap are 
presented herein. In addition, some preliminary results from an investigation which incor- 
porated the trap are given in order to illustrate the potential utility of this new meth- 
odology. 
TRAP DESIGN AND OPERATION 
Sticky traps work in much the same manner as "fly paper". Upon contact, animals will 
adhere to the non-drying, non-volatile, sticky surface (Southwood, 1966). The trap (Figs. 1 
and 2) is constructed as follows. Clear acrylic plates, 2 mm thick with .1 m2 exposed sticky 
surface (Fig. 1) are arranged end to end in a linear series. Each acrylic plate measures 30.00 
X 35.35 cm and is made slightly rectangular so that minimum wastage of acrylic takes place 
during construction. The sheets are held on two sides by 2X 2 X 34 cm wooden support 
frames. A centered groove 1 cm deep is cut the entire length of the support frames allowing 
the acrylic sheets to be inserted, centered, and fastened with brads. Quarter inch holes are 
drilled into the ends of the support bars so that bolts with wing nuts can be added to both 
ends of the frames. The support frames strengthen the acrylic, and the bolts and wing nuts 
l ~ ~ a r d u e  Agricultural Experiment Station Journal No. 6731. 
2~epa r tmen t  of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907. 
1
Harris and McCafferty: Assessing Aquatic Insect Flight Behavior with Sticky Traps
Published by ValpoScholar, 1977
234 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 10, No. 4 
/ a  WINGNUT g\wM I,%" .". 1 2  
1 CM. 
Fig. 1 .  Diagram o f  reusable sticky trap plate. 
Fig. 2. Sticky trap suspended from High Bridge to  monitor upstream flight over Little 
Pine Creek, Warren County, Indiana. 
2
The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 10, No. 4 [1977], Art. 11
https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol10/iss4/11
1977 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 235 
enable the traps to be attached to chains or a fixed support. The support frames also keep 
the trap surfaces from sticking together during transport. 
An adhesive that may be used is ~ack-p rap@. This adhesive when applied in a thin layer 
is nearly transparent. The application of adhesive can be a tedious and messy process. In 
order to avoid this and also attain a light uniform coat, adhesive should be painted on the 
trap with a seven inch paint roller with short nap. When utilizing this procedure, approxi- 
mately 60 plates can be covered with an even coat of ~ack- rap@ in less than 10 minutes. 
Adhesive materials employed in sticky traps may pose problems when working with 
small and fragile specimens. These ~pecimens when removed from the adhesive often sustain 
mechanical 'injury which could make specific determination difficult. This problem can be 
overcome by the use of the solvent oleum, which does not damage the acrylic sampling 
plates, but does dissolve the adhesive. Insect laden plates, when removed, should be sub- 
merged in oleum in a large, shallow pan. Usually, the insects will float free in the oleum in 
less than 10 minutes. The mixture may then be funneled through a standard seive to  filter 
the insects. Although the oleum wash allows speedy specimen removal, it is not miscible in 
ethanol. The specimens can be placed in a container of 1,4 Dioxane momentarily before 
placement in ethanol. Specimens retained in the oleum for more than a week become very 
brittle. 
Traps may be attached by chains via the support bars and suspended (for example, from 
a bridge) above the water (Fig. 2). Adhesive can be placed on one or both sides of the 
acrylic plates and the traps suspended perpendicular to the stream flow. For retrieval, traps 
may be stacked in sequence, placed in a carrying case, and transported to  the lab for 
processing. Although adhesive will not deteriorate quickly, caution should be taken since 
insects may begin desication within 24 hours. Heavy dew and light rain do not seem to 
diminish the adhesive properties of Tack-Trap@. If the lower part of the trap becomes 
partially submerged, insects may still be retained. 
TEST APPLICATION AND RESULTS 
The above described sticky trap has potential for improving investigation techniques for 
studying adult flight behavior, monitoring, and life history studies of many aquatic insects. 
For example, although much has been written about downstream drift of aquatic insects 
(Miiller, 1974; Waters, 1972), little is known of how the upstream fauna is reestablished. 
The few observations on upstream migation of adult aquatic insects have usually reported 
the movements of a single species and/or are based solely on visual observation (Elliott, 
1967). 
In our preliminary testing during the summer of 1975, sticky traps were used to evaluate 
the fauna of a small third order stream in central Indiana, and to assess the adult flight 
activity of Odonata, Plecoptera, Ephemeroptera, and Trichoptera. Two traps were sus- 
pended from a bridge over a narrow gorge 18.3 m deep (Fig. 2). Each trap consisted of 30 
acrylic plates spaced 30 cm apart and was suspended off the side of the high bridge, (one 
with the sticky surface facing upstream, the other with the sticky surface facing down- 
stream). This procedure permitted the assessment of a) numbers and kinds of insects 
present, b) comparative directional movements both upstream and downstream, and c) the 
vertical distance above the water surface at which species flight most often occurs. 
Initial samples gave some very interesting results. The number of insects captured moving 
upstream (caught in the trap with sticky surface facing downstream) were markedly greater 
than those encountered in the trap which faced upstream. Three 24 hour collections by this 
trap during July, August and September of 1975 collected 1,359 specimens of Trichoptera, 
Plecoptera, Ephemeroptera, and Odonata; of these, 1,046 were retained by the trap facing 
downstream, 313 by the trap facing upstream. Samples of all identified insects verified 
suspected upstream migration of adults. 
Identifiable species of Trichoptera, Ephemeroptera, Odonata and Plecoptera indicated an 
additional apparent trend. In each of these orders, the greatest percentage of insects 
captured were females. In some species, such as the caddisfly Cheumatopsyche pettiti 
Banks, females comprised over 90% of the total catch. However, when upstream and down- 
3
Harris and McCafferty: Assessing Aquatic Insect Flight Behavior with Sticky Traps
Published by ValpoScholar, 1977
THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 10, No. 4 
UPSTREAM 
DOWNSTREAM 
JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER 
Fig. 3. Percentage of females of C. analis retained moving upstream and doa-nsrream for 
three 24 hour samples. 
stream samples were compared (Fig. 3), the ratio of females to males retained by the 
upstream side of the trap (indicating downstream movements) was nearl>- 1:1, a-bile the 
ratio of those retained by the downstream trap (indicating movements upstream) a-as 9:l. 
Results indicated that the males were not preferably moving upstream. and that upstream 
migration of females alone may be responsible for recolonization of pre\iously displaced 
drifting larvae. These data are credible from an evolutionary standpoint, assuming it a-ould 
be a wasteful strategy for males to migrate upstream after mating has taken place near the 
emergence site. 
The distribution of insects that were obtained at different heights abme the stream 
surface (Fig. 4) provided a plausible explanation for the inadequacy of many standard 
collecting techniques. The lowest level sticky trap (that placed just above the air water 
interface) collected the greatest numbers of insects. Only a feu- of the species sampled mere 
not found at this low level. Many of the species were seldom found more than 30 cm above 
the air water interface. Some were most commonly retained at 2 m above the xater's 
surface, and still others were most commonly found 9 m or more above the xater surface. 
4
The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 10, No. 4 [1977], Art. 11
https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol10/iss4/11
THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 
El H. ARMATA 
TRAP LEVEL 
Fig. 4. Percentage of total catch of H. armata, C. pettiti, and T. atratus at different ele- 
vations for three 2 4  hour samples. 
The Hydroptilidae, [for example, Hydroptila armata Ross (Fig. 4)] were primarily limited 
to flight within 1 m of the air water interface. Interestingly, this is one of the poorest 
known and least sampled families of Trichoptera. Other caddisfly species such as Cheumato- 
psyche pettiti were most often collected 2 m above the stream surface. Most mayfly species 
were collected in greatest numbers at relatively high elevations. Plates from the water level 
to  13.3 m above the stream retained large numbers of Tricorythodes atratus McDunnough; 
most were collected over 10 m. This flight level corresponded to  the canopy level at the 
collection site, and the characteristic swarming height for this species (Hall, et  al., 1975). 
Other traps that may normally be placed more than a meter above the water surface may 
theoretically not be as effective for collecting hydroptilid caddisflies This was demonstrated 
by both Malaise and light traps that were used to collect hydroptilids at the study site 
(Fig. 5). Also extensive collections utilizing aerial nets at  the sample site did not contain 
many 7'ricolythodes atratus adults although the larvae were pesent in large' numbers. The 
apparent "out of arms reach" flight behavior monitored by the sticky $ ~ a p  would, however, 
account for this situation. 
Effectiveness of the sticky trap for monitoring studies was demonstrated by a trap which 
we suspended in a culvert over a small stream. This single plate trap collected in 24 hours: 
two mayfly species, three caddisfly species, and one stonefly species not obtained in a 2 
hour light trap sample and extensive sweeping the day before at the same site. 
In conclusion, the described sticky trap appears to be well adapted for monitoring 
stream flying aquatic insects. Most flying insects were retained, the only insects which 
noticeably avoided capture being aeshnid dragonflies. With the exception of these dragon- 
flies, light trap and sweep net collections of insects at  the sample sites failed to turn up any 
5
Harris and McCafferty: Assessing Aquatic Insect Flight Behavior with Sticky Traps
Published by ValpoScholar, 1977
THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 10, No. 4 
5 0  
LY 
u 
0 40  
- 
2 
- 
C 
P 
0 
o? 
n 
30 
8 
o! 
LY g 20 
z 
10 
MALAISE STICKY LIGHT 
Fig. 5. Numbers of Hydroptilidae retained by light, malaise, and sticky trap. The malaise 
trap was suspended directly above the water surface, the light trap was located on the 
bank ca. 1.5 m above water level. Weather conditions were similar each day of com- 
parison. 
aquatic species that were not collected by the sticky traps For life history, faunistic, and 
behavioral studies, this sticky trap should provide a constant monitor of most aquatic 
insects flying above the stream and emerging or active during particular times of the day or 
season. 
LITERATURE CITED 
Elliott, J. M. 1967. Invertebrate drift in a Dartmoor stream. Arch. Hydrobiol. 63:202-37. 
Hall, R. J., L. Berner and E. F. Cook. 1975. Observations on the biology of 2Xcorythodes 
atratus McDunnough (Ephemeroptera: Tricorythidae). Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 
77: 34-49. 
Lattin, J .  D. 1968. Equipment and Technique, p. 50-51, in: R. L. Usinger, Aquatic Insects 
of California. Univ. Calif. Press. Berkeley. 
6
The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 10, No. 4 [1977], Art. 11
https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol10/iss4/11
1977 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 239 
Madson, B. L., J. Bengtson, and I. Butz. 1973. Observation on upstream migration by 
imagines of some Plecoptera and Ephemeroptera. Limnol. Oceonogr. 18: 678-81. 
Miiller, K. 1974. Stream drift as a chronobiogical phenomenon in running water ecosystems. 
Ann. Rev. Ecol. System. 5:309-23. 
Provonsha, A. V. and W. P. McCafferty. 1975. New techniques for associating the stages of 
aquatic insects. Great Lakes Entomol. 8: 105-9. 
Southwood, T. R. E. 1966. Ecological methods with particular reference to the study of 
insect populations. Methuen, London. 
Waters. T. F. 1972. The drift of stream insects. Ann. Rev. Entomol. 17:253-72. 
7
Harris and McCafferty: Assessing Aquatic Insect Flight Behavior with Sticky Traps
Published by ValpoScholar, 1977


Assessing Aquatic Insect Flight Behavior with Sticky Traps

Valparaiso University

The Great Lakes Entomologist Volume 10 Number 4 - Winter 1977 Number 4 - Winter 1977 Article 11 December 1977 Assessing Aquatic Insect Flight Behavior with Sticky Traps T. L. Harris Purdue University W. P. McCafferty Purdue University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle  Part of the Entomology Commons Recommended Citation Harris, T. L. and McCafferty, W. P. 1977. "Assessing Aquatic Insect Flight Behavior with Sticky Traps," The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 10 (4) Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol10/iss4/11 This Peer-Review Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Biology at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Great Lakes Entomologist by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu. THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST ASSESSING AQUATIC INSECT FLIGHT BEHAVIOR WITH STICKY  TRAPS^ T. L. Harris and W. P. ~ c ~ a f f e r t y ~  ABSTRACT A suspended sticky trap was designed to analyze flight behavior of aquatic insects, including both direction and vertical distribution of flight. Specifications of trap con- struction are detailed. Possible applications were explored and preliminary results from the study of a small Indiana stream demonstrated primary upstream migration of females, and indicated vertical partitioning of flight activity at the species level. Investigations of the aquatic insect fauna of particular habitats, whether it be for life history or monitoring studies, are often dependent to some degree on the study of aerial adult stages of the aquatic species present (Provonsha and McCafferty, 1975). Because of the variation in emergence and flight behavior among aquatic insects, the habitat might ideally be sampled continuously, 24 hours a day, over the entire emergence season. Since this is not usually feasible, investigators have had to resort to various representative sampling methods which may not be ideal. The two methods most commonly utilized by aquatic entomologists have been light trapping, and aerial and sweep netting (Lattin, 1968). Both methods are unfortunately qualitatively biased, since light trapping must take place at lowered light intensities and netting may be efficient only during daylight hours. Emergence traps are limited by sample size. Madson et al. (1973) first used a crude sticky trap to capture Plecoptera and Ephemeroptera flying over a stream in Denmark. This sampling principle was promising since most of the above mentioned sampling bias could be avoided. A study was initiated to design and test a unique sticky trap which was hoped would greatly improve sampling of running-water insects, and provide a method of assessing flight behavior in time and space. The construction details and operation of such a trap are presented herein. In addition, some preliminary results from an investigation which incor- porated the trap are given in order to illustrate the potential utility of this new meth- odology. TRAP DESIGN AND OPERATION Sticky traps work in much the same manner as "fly paper". Upon contact, animals will adhere to the non-drying, non-volatile, sticky surface (Southwood, 1966). The trap (Figs. 1 and 2) is constructed as follows. Clear acrylic plates, 2 mm thick with .1 m2 exposed sticky surface (Fig. 1) are arranged end to end in a linear series. Each acrylic plate measures 30.00 X 35.35 cm and is made slightly rectangular so that minimum wastage of acrylic takes place during construction. The sheets are held on two sides by 2X 2 X 34 cm wooden support frames. A centered groove 1 cm deep is cut the entire length of the support frames allowing the acrylic sheets to be inserted, centered, and fastened with brads. Quarter inch holes are drilled into the ends of the support bars so that bolts with wing nuts can be added to both ends of the frames. The support frames strengthen the acrylic, and the bolts and wing nuts l ~ ~ a r d u e  Agricultural Experiment Station Journal No. 6731. 2~epa r tmen t  of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907. 1Harris and McCafferty: Assessing Aquatic Insect Flight Behavior with Sticky TrapsPublished by ValpoScholar, 1977234 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 10, No. 4 / a  WINGNUT g\wM I,%" .". 1 2  1 CM. Fig. 1 .  Diagram o f  reusable sticky trap plate. Fig. 2. Sticky trap suspended from High Bridge to  monitor upstream flight over Little Pine Creek, Warren County, Indiana. 2The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 10, No. 4 [1977], Art. 11https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol10/iss4/111977 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 235 enable the traps to be attached to chains or a fixed support. The support frames also keep the trap surfaces from sticking together during transport. An adhesive that may be used is ~ack-p rap@. This adhesive when applied in a thin layer is nearly transparent. The application of adhesive can be a tedious and messy process. In order to avoid this and also attain a light uniform coat, adhesive should be painted on the trap with a seven inch paint roller with short nap. When utilizing this procedure, approxi- mately 60 plates can be covered with an even coat of ~ack- rap@ in less than 10 minutes. Adhesive materials employed in sticky traps may pose problems when working with small and fragile specimens. These ~pecimens when removed from the adhesive often sustain mechanical 'injury which could make specific determination difficult. This problem can be overcome by the use of the solvent oleum, which does not damage the acrylic sampling plates, but does dissolve the adhesive. Insect laden plates, when removed, should be sub- merged in oleum in a large, shallow pan. Usually, the insects will float free in the oleum in less than 10 minutes. The mixture may then be funneled through a standard seive to  filter the insects. Although the oleum wash allows speedy specimen removal, it is not miscible in ethanol. The specimens can be placed in a container of 1,4 Dioxane momentarily before placement in ethanol. Specimens retained in the oleum for more than a week become very brittle. Traps may be attached by chains via the support bars and suspended (for example, from a bridge) above the water (Fig. 2). Adhesive can be placed on one or both sides of the acrylic plates and the traps suspended perpendicular to the stream flow. For retrieval, traps may be stacked in sequence, placed in a carrying case, and transported to  the lab for processing. Although adhesive will not deteriorate quickly, caution should be taken since insects may begin desication within 24 hours. Heavy dew and light rain do not seem to diminish the adhesive properties of Tack-Trap@. If the lower part of the trap becomes partially submerged, insects may still be retained. TEST APPLICATION AND RESULTS The above described sticky trap has potential for improving investigation techniques for studying adult flight behavior, monitoring, and life history studies of many aquatic insects. For example, although much has been written about downstream drift of aquatic insects (Miiller, 1974; Waters, 1972), little is known of how the upstream fauna is reestablished. The few observations on upstream migation of adult aquatic insects have usually reported the movements of a single species and/or are based solely on visual observation (Elliott, 1967). In our preliminary testing during the summer of 1975, sticky traps were used to evaluate the fauna of a small third order stream in central Indiana, and to assess the adult flight activity of Odonata, Plecoptera, Ephemeroptera, and Trichoptera. Two traps were sus- pended from a bridge over a narrow gorge 18.3 m deep (Fig. 2). Each trap consisted of 30 acrylic plates spaced 30 cm apart and was suspended off the side of the high bridge, (one with the sticky surface facing upstream, the other with the sticky surface facing down- stream). This procedure permitted the assessment of a) numbers and kinds of insects present, b) comparative directional movements both upstream and downstream, and c) the vertical distance above the water surface at which species flight most often occurs. Initial samples gave some very interesting results. The number of insects captured moving upstream (caught in the trap with sticky surface facing downstream) were markedly greater than those encountered in the trap which faced upstream. Three 24 hour collections by this trap during July, August and September of 1975 collected 1,359 specimens of Trichoptera, Plecoptera, Ephemeroptera, and Odonata; of these, 1,046 were retained by the trap facing downstream, 313 by the trap facing upstream. Samples of all identified insects verified suspected upstream migration of adults. Identifiable species of Trichoptera, Ephemeroptera, Odonata and Plecoptera indicated an additional apparent trend. In each of these orders, the greatest percentage of insects captured were females. In some species, such as the caddisfly Cheumatopsyche pettiti Banks, females comprised over 90% of the total catch. However, when upstream and down- 3Harris and McCafferty: Assessing Aquatic Insect Flight Behavior with Sticky TrapsPublished by ValpoScholar, 1977THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 10, No. 4 UPSTREAM DOWNSTREAM JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER Fig. 3. Percentage of females of C. analis retained moving upstream and doa-nsrream for three 24 hour samples. stream samples were compared (Fig. 3), the ratio of females to males retained by the upstream side of the trap (indicating downstream movements) was nearl>- 1:1, a-bile the ratio of those retained by the downstream trap (indicating movements upstream) a-as 9:l. Results indicated that the males were not preferably moving upstream. and that upstream migration of females alone may be responsible for recolonization of pre\iously displaced drifting larvae. These data are credible from an evolutionary standpoint, assuming it a-ould be a wasteful strategy for males to migrate upstream after mating has taken place near the emergence site. The distribution of insects that were obtained at different heights abme the stream surface (Fig. 4) provided a plausible explanation for the inadequacy of many standard collecting techniques. The lowest level sticky trap (that placed just above the air water interface) collected the greatest numbers of insects. Only a feu- of the species sampled mere not found at this low level. Many of the species were seldom found more than 30 cm above the air water interface. Some were most commonly retained at 2 m above the xater's surface, and still others were most commonly found 9 m or more above the xater surface. 4The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 10, No. 4 [1977], Art. 11https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol10/iss4/11THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST El H. ARMATA TRAP LEVEL Fig. 4. Percentage of total catch of H. armata, C. pettiti, and T. atratus at different ele- vations for three 2 4  hour samples. The Hydroptilidae, [for example, Hydroptila armata Ross (Fig. 4)] were primarily limited to flight within 1 m of the air water interface. Interestingly, this is one of the poorest known and least sampled families of Trichoptera. Other caddisfly species such as Cheumato- psyche pettiti were most often collected 2 m above the stream surface. Most mayfly species were collected in greatest numbers at relatively high elevations. Plates from the water level to  13.3 m above the stream retained large numbers of Tricorythodes atratus McDunnough; most were collected over 10 m. This flight level corresponded to  the canopy level at the collection site, and the characteristic swarming height for this species (Hall, et  al., 1975). Other traps that may normally be placed more than a meter above the water surface may theoretically not be as effective for collecting hydroptilid caddisflies This was demonstrated by both Malaise and light traps that were used to collect hydroptilids at the study site (Fig. 5). Also extensive collections utilizing aerial nets at  the sample site did not contain many 7'ricolythodes atratus adults although the larvae were pesent in large' numbers. The apparent "out of arms reach" flight behavior monitored by the sticky $ ~ a p  would, however, account for this situation. Effectiveness of the sticky trap for monitoring studies was demonstrated by a trap which we suspended in a culvert over a small stream. This single plate trap collected in 24 hours: two mayfly species, three caddisfly species, and one stonefly species not obtained in a 2 hour light trap sample and extensive sweeping the day before at the same site. In conclusion, the described sticky trap appears to be well adapted for monitoring stream flying aquatic insects. Most flying insects were retained, the only insects which noticeably avoided capture being aeshnid dragonflies. With the exception of these dragon- flies, light trap and sweep net collections of insects at  the sample sites failed to turn up any 5Harris and McCafferty: Assessing Aquatic Insect Flight Behavior with Sticky TrapsPublished by ValpoScholar, 1977THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 10, No. 4 5 0  LY u 0 40  - 2 - C P 0 o? n 30 8 o! LY g 20 z 10 MALAISE STICKY LIGHT Fig. 5. Numbers of Hydroptilidae retained by light, malaise, and sticky trap. The malaise trap was suspended directly above the water surface, the light trap was located on the bank ca. 1.5 m above water level. Weather conditions were similar each day of com- parison. aquatic species that were not collected by the sticky traps For life history, faunistic, and behavioral studies, this sticky trap should provide a constant monitor of most aquatic insects flying above the stream and emerging or active during particular times of the day or season. LITERATURE CITED Elliott, J. M. 1967. Invertebrate drift in a Dartmoor stream. Arch. Hydrobiol. 63:202-37. Hall, R. J., L. Berner and E. F. Cook. 1975. Observations on the biology of 2Xcorythodes atratus McDunnough (Ephemeroptera: Tricorythidae). Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 77: 34-49. Lattin, J .  D. 1968. Equipment and Technique, p. 50-51, in: R. L. Usinger, Aquatic Insects of California. Univ. Calif. Press. Berkeley. 6The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 10, No. 4 [1977], Art. 11https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol10/iss4/111977 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 239 Madson, B. L., J. Bengtson, and I. Butz. 1973. Observation on upstream migration by imagines of some Plecoptera and Ephemeroptera. Limnol. Oceonogr. 18: 678-81. Miiller, K. 1974. Stream drift as a chronobiogical phenomenon in running water ecosystems. Ann. Rev. Ecol. System. 5:309-23. Provonsha, A. V. and W. P. McCafferty. 1975. New techniques for associating the stages of aquatic insects. Great Lakes Entomol. 8: 105-9. Southwood, T. R. E. 1966. Ecological methods with particular reference to the study of insect populations. Methuen, London. Waters. T. F. 1972. The drift of stream insects. Ann. Rev. Entomol. 17:253-72. 7Harris and McCafferty: Assessing Aquatic Insect Flight Behavior with Sticky TrapsPublished by ValpoScholar, 1977

https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1310&context=tgle

Assessing Aquatic Insect Flight Behavior with Sticky Traps

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

ValpoScholar

Valparaiso University