A NEW FIELD EMERGENCE TRAP FOR SAMPLING INSECTS FROM PRECISE AREAS OF LOGS

Abstract

A new emergence trap was fabricated for collecting saproxylic insects from precise areas of dead and fallen trees. The trap works on the principle of all emergence traps, i.e., organisms emerging from a substrate get attracted towards light, where they encounter a transparent surface and get collected in a collecting tube with preservative fluid. It is one of the most objective methods for sampling saproxylic insects as they emerge from wood substrata. Using many replicates of this trap, the entire heterogeneity of a substratum like dead wood can be easily covered. The trap can provide a higher definition of the sampling area and be used for studying assemblages of saproxylic insects. It is almost cost-effective and user-friendly under field conditions, on logs and snags, and even on live trees. In this study, 102 such field emergence traps were deployed in a conserved area, and 59 species of saproxylic insects belonging to 5 functional groups were collected during a brief sampling period of 3 months. Extensive sampling trials using such traps in more numbers for extended periods can provide insights into species? diversity and host preferences.. KEYWORDS :Emergence Trap, Insect Diversity, Insect Sampling, Saproxylic Insects, Xylophagous Insects