Using Malaise traps for collecting Lepidoptera (Insecta), with notes on the preparation of Macrolepidoptera from ethanol.

Olga Schmidt,Axel Hausmann,Christoph Häuser,Lien Van Vu,Stefan Schmidt

doi:10.3897/bdj.7.e32192

Abstract

The present paper deals with the potential of employing Malaise traps for collecting butterflies and moths for morphological analysis and presents a protocol for preparing Macrolepidoptera from Malaise trap samples that were preserved in ethanol. About 80 specimens of Lepidoptera, including Nymphalidae, Geometridae, Hesperiidae, Erebidae, Noctuidae, Pyralidae and Tortricidae, were mounted, following the protocol. All specimens with robust wings and contrasting wing patterns were well suited for the study of external morphology, regardless of the family. The specimens used in this study were collected in highland forest areas of central Vietnam with a little known entomofauna, as part of the German-Vietnamese biodiversity project 'VIETBIO'. The study offers new methodological approaches in an attempt to make the most of the material that was obtained using Malaise traps.

Highlights

Our study presents the results of a capacity building training course that was part of the ongoing German-Vietnamese 'VIETBIO' project, in June 2018
Extensive molecular research on butterflies and moths from Malaise trap samples preserved in ethanol has proven successful, but on the other hand, morphological studies have been hampered, mainly because Lepidoptera are regarded as being unsuitable for dry-mounting after fixation in ethanol
The sampling regime consisted of four Malaise traps that were operated for 6-9 days across a range of different habitats in the Bach Ma National Park (16.19°N, 107.85°E) in central Vietnam at altitudes between 520 and 1400 m a.s.l. in June 2018

Summary

Introduction

Our study presents the results of a capacity building training course that was part of the ongoing German-Vietnamese 'VIETBIO' project, in June 2018. Butterflies, collecting methods, macrolepidoptera, Malaise trap, microlepidoptera, monitoring, moths, preparation technique, rapid biodiversity assessment, sampling, trapping Extensive molecular research on butterflies and moths from Malaise trap samples preserved in ethanol has proven successful (see e.g. Tänzler et al 2012; Aagaard et al 2016; Geiger et al 2016; Morinière et al 2016; Cancian de Araujo et al 2017; Cancian de Araujo et al 2018), but on the other hand, morphological studies have been hampered, mainly because Lepidoptera are regarded as being unsuitable for dry-mounting after fixation in ethanol (see e.g. Walker and Crosby 1988; Brown 2005; Krogmann and Holstein 2010).

Results

Conclusion