Bait Age Research Articles

The effect of bait age and season on trap catch of blow fly species composition (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in a suburban habitat

We document the blow fly species caught at two baited traps from May to July 2021 in a suburban region of southern Ontario. Baited traps were deployed in a residential area of St Catharines, Ontario, which captured blow flies from 7 species, the most abundant being Lucilia sericata (Meigen, 1826) (878) and Phormia regina Meigen, 1826 (397). Traps were baited with chicken drumsticks of various ages. We found that trap catch increased from late spring to summer, but there was no effect of bait age on the number of flies caught.

Use of fruit bait traps for monitoring of butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

Existe gran interés en monitoreár las poblaciones de mariposas tropicales mediante trampas cebadas. Estudiamos de manera intensiva una localidadde bosquetropical húmedo de mediana altitud en el sur de Costa Rica. La variación en el número de capturas y escapes de las trampas sé asoció más con la hora del día que con la edad del cebo. Los muestreos a corto plazo son poco confiables pues las especies difieren en su tasa de escapes. Los individuos no parecieron hacerse adictos a las trampas o reconocerlas como fuentes de alimentación. La atención a las trampas de día de por medio resultó eficiente,

Grape Juice as a Bait for Anastrepha suspensa (Diptera: Tephritidae) and Zaprionus indianus (Diptera: Drosophilidae).

In field tests conducted in south Florida to test grape juice as a bait for the Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspensa Loew, high numbers of Zaprionus indianus Gupta were captured in traps with aqueous grape juice. These experiments included comparisons of grape juice bait with established A. suspensa protein-based baits (ammonium acetate + putrescine lures, or torula yeast) or wine, a bait found previously to be attractive to Z. indianus. Effects of different preservatives (polypropylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, proxel, or sodium tetraborate) and bait age were also tested. Traps with grape juice baits captured more A. suspensa than unbaited traps, but more were captured in traps with grape juice plus preservative baits and the highest numbers were captured in traps containing the established protein-based baits. In contrast, grape juice baits without preservative that were prepared on the day of deployment (0 d) or that were aged for 3-4 d in the laboratory captured the highest numbers of Z. indianus, while solutions that were aged in the laboratory for 6 or 9 d captured fewer. Although these studies found that aqueous grape juice is a poor bait for A. suspensa, we found that actively fermenting aqueous grape juice may be an effective bait for Z. indianus.

Effects of Bait Type, Bait Age, and Trap Hours on Capture Success of Freshwater Turtles

We trapped freshwater turtles using hoop nets and 3 different bait types along a short section of Oyster Creek, Fort Bend County, TX. Using a model-selection approach, we tested the effectiveness of different baits on capture success, taking into consideration the length of time the bait was in the water, time of day, and the number of hours for the set (trap hours). We had significantly more success when we used dry dog food and dry cat food than traditional canned sardine bait. Bait age and time of day when traps were checked had no influence on capture success. Contrary to our expectations, the number of captures decreased throughout the study. Our results suggest that turtle researchers should consider using alternative bait types to maximize trap effort. However, there was a significant interaction between canned sardines and bait age for Trachemys scripta elegans (Red-eared Slider) captures, suggesting that canned sardines should be replaced often. In addition, more research is needed to test capture success when baits are older than one day.

Spotted Wing Drosophila,Drosophila suzukii(Diptera: Drosophilidae), Trapped with Combinations of Wines and Vinegars

Field trapping experiments evaluated wine and vinegar baits for spotted wing drosophila flies, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura), and assessed variance in bait attractiveness with wine type, vinegar type, and bait age. A mixture of apple cider vinegar and a Merlot wine attracted more flies than a mixture of acetic acid and ethanol. The vinegar/wine mixture attracted numbers of flies that were similar to numbers of flies trapped with acetic acid with wine or ethanol with vinegar. These results indicate that chemicals in vinegar in addition to acetic acid, and chemicals in wine in addition to ethanol, are attractants for the spotted wing drosophila. Numbers of flies captured with wine/vinegar mixtures varied somewhat with wine type, with a Merlot wine yielding best captures among the wines tested. Numbers of flies captured with wine/vinegar mixes also varied somewhat with vinegar type, with a rice vinegar yielding best captures among vinegars tested. Numbers of flies captured varied little with bait age, from 0 to 7 days old. These results will assist efforts to improve baits used to trap spotted wing drosophila, and to provide guidance for the isolation and identification of chemical attractants from wines and vinegars.

Effects of bait age, larval chemical cues and nutrient depletion on colonization by forensically important calliphorid and sarcophagid flies

Species colonization patterns on corpses and the frequency of carrion fly oviposition and larviposition are affected by decomposition stage and previous maggot colonization. This study investigated these effects on meat bait colonization by Victorian Diptera of forensic importance. Bait treatments were: 'aged' (aged for 4 days at 22 °C, allowing some decomposition); 'nutrient-depleted' [aged for 4 days at 22 °C with feeding Calliphora vicina (Robineau-Desvoidy) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) larvae]; 'extract' (fresh bait mixed with liquid formed by feeding C. vicina larvae), and 'fresh' (untreated control bait). Statistical analysis (α = 0.05) revealed that colonization frequency differed significantly among treatments (Welch's F(3,18.83) = 4.66, P < 0.05). Post hoc tests showed that fresh and extract baits were colonized extensively throughout the experiment with no significant difference, whereas the colonization of nutrient-depleted baits was significantly lower. This suggests that larval digestive enzymes, larval excreta and cuticular hydrocarbons have less effect on colonizing Diptera than the nutritional content of meat. The colonization of aged baits did not differ significantly from that of fresh, extract or nutrient-depleted baits. A further experiment testing 'very aged' (aged for 8 days at 28 °C), 'larvae-added' (fresh bait with C. vicina larvae added before placement) and 'fresh' (untreated control) baits revealed that very aged baits were colonized significantly less frequently than either fresh or larvae-added baits (Welch's F(2, 6.17) = 17.40, P < 0.05).

A preliminary study assessing risk to Tasmanian devils from poisoning for red foxes

AbstractThe recent introduction of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) to Australia's island state of Tasmania represents a major threat to native fauna. In response, the Tasmanian government has begun a fox eradication program using Foxoff®, a bait containing the poison sodium monofluoroacetate (commonly known as 1080). The bait is potentially attractive to native Tasmanian carnivores as well as to foxes. Of particular concern is the endangered Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), which is already at risk from an emergent infectious disease, devil facial tumor disease (DFTD). In both a captive and a field study using non‐toxic Foxoff bait, we assessed bait palatability and possible effects of demographics, hunger level, bait age, and bait burial method on the likelihood of bait uptake by Tasmanian devils. Captive devils showed varying interest in the bait, but wild devils appeared to find it uniformly palatable. In the captive study, males and younger, captive‐born animals were more likely to excavate and remove bait. Subterranean burial at 15 cm was the most effective deterrent to bait excavation; effectiveness decreased at shallower depths and with surface‐level bait buried beneath soil mounds. Our findings suggest that the current fox‐baiting campaign may negatively impact individual devils. More extensive study is necessary to assess potential risk at the population level. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.

Carrion Beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae) of the Konza Prairie Biological Station

Pitfall traps were used to determine diversity, seasonality, and numbers of burying beetles on the Konza Prairie Biological Station (KPBS) during the summers of 1997 and 1998. Traps were baited with either beef liver (1997) or whole mouse carcasses (1997 and 1998); significantly more carrion beetles were found in traps baited with carcasses. A total of 1003 carrion beetles, representing 8 species, were trapped over the course of 1556 trap nights. One of these species, Necrophila americana Linneaus, had not previously been recorded in Riley County. One additional species was found at sites where pitfall trap bait was discarded, bringing the total number of KPBS silphid species to 9. Bait age was an important determinant in attracting silphids to pitfall traps, as numbers of beetles in the trap continued to increase with bait age up to 6 days. Grassland topography (upland vs. lowland trap sites) significantly affected the numbers of carrion beetles trapped. Grassland burn history did not affect number of carrion beetles trapped, but did seem to influence species diversity.

Attraction of the sheep blowfly, Lucilia sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae) to carrion bait in the field

AbstractThe facultative ectoparasite, Lucilia sericata (Meigen) has been described as a pioneer colonizer of carrion. This behaviour is believed to enable it to escape the intense interspecific competition which can occur between dipterous larvae within carrion. Such escape is necessary as this fly species has been thought to have reduced competitive ability, resulting from its evolutionary progression towards parasitism. In the work reported here, the attraction of L. sericata to carrion bait at different stages of decomposition (fresh to 28 days old) was investigated in the field. Trials were run over three years, with carrion bait presented in the presence and absence of sodium sulphide. Decomposition had a significant effect on the numbers of L. sericata caught; more decomposed bait caught greater numbers of L. sericata than fresh bait. However, this effect was not apparent if sodium sulphide was added to the carrion. With sodium sulphide added, there was no significant difference in the attraction of female L. sericata, regardless of bait age. There was no general relationship between carrion bait age and the number of female L. sericata caught in different stages of ovarian development. The present data, therefore, suggest that L. sericata does not act exclusively as a pioneer species. Furthermore, this work suggests that, if used with sodium sulphide, the stage of carrion bait decomposition does not significantly modify carrion bait attractiveness.

Attraction of Mocis latipes (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) to Sweet Baits in Traps

Traps baited with solutions of molasses or jaggery (unrefined palm sugar) captured significant numbers of the moth Mocis latipes Guenee, indicating their attraction to these baits. Numbers of moths captured were affected by bait concentration and by bait age. Greatest moth captures were obtained with 20% molasses in water or 5, 10 or 20% jaggery in water. Molasses and jaggery baits aged in the laboratory for up to three days before field testing were more attractive than freshly-made baits to M. latipes moths. This is the first demonstration of M. latipes attraction to sugar-based baits.

Performance of gel and paste bait products for German cockroach (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae) control: laboratory and field studies.

Gel and paste bait formulations containing boric acid or hydramethylnon were evaluated in field and laboratory experiments with the German cockroach, Blattella germanica (L.). Bait formulations contained 14-62% water by weight and lost the most water after 1 d of desiccation. Bait age and water content did not alter the toxicity (LT50) of boric acid-based baits. Toxicity of hydramethylnon (Maxforce) bait, however, increased with bait age. In continuous exposure tests without harborage, boric acid formulations had LT50s of 8.5 and 10.1 d for Blue Diamond and IT WORKS, respectively. Maxforce bait had an LT50 of 4.2 d. LT50s determined with cardboard harborage or in Ebeling choice boxes were 1.5 to 2.2 times lower than those from continuous exposure tests without harborage. Relative repellency, measured as the mean percent of live cockroaches in the light side of the choice box, was greatest for IT WORKS (21.4%) and Maxforce (25.4%) formulations, followed by Blue Diamond (10.9%). A performance index that combined choice box repellency and mortality data indicated that Maxforce had the greatest potential for field effectiveness. Blue Diamond and Maxforce significantly reduced German cockroach populations in the field. Maxforce performed best in field trials when applied at 10 or 20 placements per apartment. Apartments treated with IT WORKS had significantly greater cockroach trap catches. Factors that may affect the predictive power of the performance index are discussed.

Effect of temperature, body size, bait age and long‐term feeding on the response of mice to reserpine

AbstractExperiments were carried out to assess the effects of ambient temperature, body size, bait habituation and bait age upon the response of mice to the sedating rodenticide, reserpine. No evidence of bait habituation was found, nor did baits lose potency with time. They did, however, diminish in palatability. A large body size and high ambient temperature both adversely affected the susceptibility of mice and occasionally caused incomplete sedation.