Abstract
Whenever it is desired to reduce an insect population without the use of insecticides or poisonous agents, attempts may be made to accomplish the desired reduction by means of traps. It is the purpose of this paper to present a rational theory of control by means of traps, to describe the nature of the “catch curve,” define and illustrate the catch rate, and give illustrations for a number of different insects. The cockroach was chosen for the basic data in this paper because it was readily available. Data for deer flies, ticks, flour beetles, and flies were taken from the literature. The analysis of the data on the roaches and other insects tends to support the concept that the “conversion” of an insect population from a “wild” state to a controlled or “caught” state follows a first order chemical reaction for the conversion of one substance into another. That is, the wild population acts as one substance and the caught population acts as another substance, and the “catch rate” is the velocity constant of the reaction from “wild” to “caught.”
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