Standard Trap Research Articles

English

The aim of this study was to determine trap efficiency on capturing fruit fly Ceratitis capitata. The research was conducted in greenhouse of the Entomology Laboratory of the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Sciences Center of the Federal University of Paraiba – CCA/UFPB, Areia – PB. The trap efficiency was evaluated by comparing three types (Delta, Pet and Circular Trap) with standard trap of McPhail type using liquid and semi-solid lures: Bio Anastrepha® 5% and CeraTrap®. Traps were equidistantly arranged in the experimental environment where eight releases of 300 adults of C. capitata, newly emerged, were carried out. The effectiveness of traps was evaluated according to the number of captured flies in the set period. Data were subjected to variance analyses and Tukey test. Standard trap of McPhail type and alternative trap of Pet type were the most efficient on capturing C. capitata in greenhouse environment. The alternative trap of Pet type can replace the standard one on C. capitata trapping. Key words: Fruit production, hydrolyzed proteins, Mediterranean fruit fly.

Field Level Auto-inoculation of Sorghum chafer, <I>Pachnoda interrupta</I> (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Scarabaedae) with <I>Metarhizium anisopliae</I> based Microbial Bio-control Agents using Locally Affordable Traps

Sorghum chafer,<em>Pachnoda interrupta</em>, is the most serious pest of sorghum in Ethiopia destroying the entire fields at the milk stage and causing up to 100% yield loss. Current control methods entirely depend on direct spraying and baiting with insecticides which does not provide long lasting control. Efficient biological control agents such as entomopathogenic fungi that can control the pest in the breeding sites need to be developed. Traps equipped with auto-inoculation devices are important alternative methods to spread entomopathogens into insect pest populations. Field studies on fungal auto-inoculation trap development from locally available materials conducted over three feeding and two mating seasons of <em>P. interrupta</em> resulted in two efficient auto-inoculation traps (AIT1 and AIT2) baited with a five compounds blend lure which were not significantly different in catch performance with the standard Japanese beetle trap. Two selected virulent isolates of <em>Metarhizium anisopliae</em> (PPRC51 and PPRC2) were tested for field efficacy using these two designs of locally affordable auto-inoculation traps loaded with 1gm of dry conidia. Using AIT1, PPRC51 and PPRC2 induced 41% and 40% field mortality respectively, on <em>P. interrupta</em> adults under high temperature and low relative humidity conditions, while highest field viability of the two isolates five days after application was 36 % and 40 % for PPRC51 and PPRC2, respectively. Based on the catch performance, field efficacy and viability data observed, the two AIT’s are recommended for further development to be used with PPRC51 and PPRC2 for augmentation biological control in the pest’s natural habitat as a component of integrated pest management against <em>P. interrupta</em>

Field Level Auto-inoculation of Sorghum chafer, <I>Pachnoda interrupta</I> (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Scarabaedae) with <I>Metarhizium anisopliae</I> based Microbial Bio-control Agents using Locally Affordable Traps

Sorghum chafer, Pachnoda interrupta , is the most serious pest of sorghum in Ethiopia destroying the entire fields at the milk stage and causing up to 100% yield loss. Current control methods entirely depend on direct spraying and baiting with insecticides which does not provide long lasting control. Efficient biological control agents such as entomopathogenic fungi that can control the pest in the breeding sites need to be developed. Traps equipped with auto-inoculation devices are important alternative methods to spread entomopathogens into insect pest populations. Field studies on fungal auto-inoculation trap development from locally available materials conducted over three feeding and two mating seasons of P. interrupta resulted in two efficient auto-inoculation traps (AIT1 and AIT2) baited with a five compounds blend lure which were not significantly different in catch performance with the standard Japanese beetle trap. Two selected virulent isolates of Metarhizium anisopliae (PPRC51 and PPRC2) were tested for field efficacy using these two designs of locally affordable auto-inoculation traps loaded with 1gm of dry conidia. Using AIT1, PPRC51 and PPRC2 induced 41% and 40% field mortality respectively, on P. interrupta adults under high temperature and low relative humidity conditions, while highest field viability of the two isolates five days after application was 36 % and 40 % for PPRC51 and PPRC2, respectively. Based on the catch performance, field efficacy and viability data observed, the two AIT’s are recommended for further development to be used with PPRC51 and PPRC2 for augmentation biological control in the pest’s natural habitat as a component of integrated pest management against P. interrupta

Miniature Bose–Einstein condensate system design based on a transparent atom chip

We propose a new miniature Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) system based on a transparent atom chip with a compact external coil structure. A standard six-beam macroscopic magneto-optical trap (MOT) is able to be created near the chip surface due to the chip’s transparency. A novel wire pattern consisting of a double-z wire and a z-shaped wire is designed on the transparent atom chip. With a vertical bias magnetic field, the double-z wire can create the quadrupole magnetic field of an intermediate chip MOT, which is suitable for transporting atoms from the macroscopic MOT to the chip z-wire trap efficiently. The compact external coil structure is designed with a rectangular frameless geometry consisting of only four coil pairs and its volume is less than 0.3 liters. The maximum system power consumption during the BEC generation procedure is about 45 W. The miniature system is evaluated, and about 3 × 106 atoms can be loaded into the chip z-wire trap. The miniature chip BEC system has the advantages of small volume and low power consumption, and it has great potential for practical applications of BEC.

Microtrap on a concave grating reflector for atom trapping**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11374100, 91536218, and 11274114) and the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai Municipality, China (Grant No. 13ZR1412800).

We propose a novel scheme of optical confinement for atoms by using a concave grating reflector. The two-dimension grating structure with a concave surface shape exhibits strong focusing ability under radially polarized illumination. Especially, the light intensity at the focal point is about 100 times higher than that of the incident light. Such a focusing optical field reflected from the curved grating structure can provide a deep potential to trap cold atoms. We discuss the feasibility of the structure serving as an optical dipole trap. Our results are as follows. (i) Van der Waals attraction potential to the surface of the structure has a low effect on trapped atoms. (ii) The maximum trapping potential is ∼ 1.14 mK in the optical trap, which is high enough to trap cold 87Rb atoms from a standard magneto-optical trap with a temperature of 120 μK, and the maximum photon scattering rate is lower than 1/s. (iii) Such a microtrap array can also manipulate and control cold molecules, or microscopic particles.

Records of the Cave-Dwelling Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of Hispaniola with an Examination of Seasonal Variation in Diversity

Despite a long history of scientific collection of bats, Hispaniola remains the least studied island of the Greater Antilles. Using standardized trapping methods during the wet and dry season at four major caves — Honda de Julian, La Chepa, Los Patos, and Pomier #4, we sampled a total of 1,472 individuals in four families, 11 genera and 12 species (of 18 recorded for the island). We report significantly fewer captures on the second night of sampling. We document seasonal variation in abundance of Macrotus waterhousii, Monophyllus redmani, and Artibeus jamaicensis, that results in 1–4 more species captured in the wet season. Additionally, singleton captures at all caves except for Honda de Julian produced wide confidence intervals in estimates of richness. Finally, we highlight the role of caves as major ecosystems for maintaining Hispaniolan mammal biodiversity. The high diversity recorded at La Chepa, together with possible declines at the historically very diverse Los Patos, highlight the conservation i...

A review of extensive variation in the design of pitfall traps and a proposal for a standard pitfall trap design for monitoring ground-active arthropod biodiversity.

To understand change in global biodiversity patterns requires large‐scale, long‐term monitoring. The ability to draw meaningful comparison across studies is severely hampered by extensive variation in the design of the sampling equipment and how it is used. Here, we present a meta‐analysis and description highlighting this variation in a common, widely used entomological survey technique. We report a decline in the completeness of methodological reporting over a 20‐year period, while there has been no clear reduction in the methodological variation between researchers using pitfall traps for arthropod sampling. There is a growing need for improved comparability between studies to facilitate the generation of large‐scale, long‐term biodiversity datasets. However, our results show that, counterproductive to this goal, over the last 20 years there has little progress in reducing the methodological variation. We propose a standardized pitfall trap design for the study of ground‐active arthropods. In addition, we provide a table to promote a more standardized reporting of the key methodological variables. Widespread adoption of more standardized methods and reporting would facilitate more nuanced analysis of biodiversity change.

Direct comparison between a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap and a Zeeman slower as sources of cold sodium atoms

The atom source is a relevant component in many atomic molecular optics experiments. The compactness and efficiency of the source are fundamental issues, acquiring more importance as the complexity of the experiments increases. Characterizing new techniques to produce high atom flux is necessary to know the efficiency and peculiarities of each one. This allows choosing the most suitable source for a specific experiment. In this work, we show a direct comparison between a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2D-MOT) and a Zeeman slower (ZS) as source of cold sodium atoms to load a standard three-dimensional magneto-optical trap. The optimum parameters for each case are obtained by observing the loading rate and the final number of atoms in the 3D-MOT. We conclude that the 2D-MOT provides a high flux of atoms comparable with that produced by the ZS, but with an enormous advantage with respect to the size of the apparatus.

Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy for Heat-Treated Fe-Ga Alloys and Their Defect Structure

We present the results of lifetime positron annihilation spectroscopy (PALS) for the ferrum–gallium alloys (galfenols) Fe–21at.%Ga and Fe–22.4at.%Ga, whose defect structure changes with annealing from 20 to 1000 $${^\circ }$$ C along the phase diagram of Fe $$_{100}$$ Ga $$_{100-x}$$ , at the L12 $$\,\rightarrow \,$$ A $$_{2}$$ transitions and in the sub-lattice of the D0 $$_{3}$$ phase. In frames of the standard trapping model, we estimate the positron annihilation parameters for the different thermal vacancies. Also we define concentrations of these vacancy defects, which may be helpful to provide an explanation of the physical properties of galfenols, including giant softening and extremal magnetostriction at the given intermetallic composition.

Using experimental measurements of three-level avoided crossings to determine the quantum defect for the Stark map of highly excited cesium Rydberg atoms

The spectra of Rydberg atoms in the domain of three-level avoided crossings formed by the Rydberg $49{S}_{1/2}$ state and high-$l$ states in the $n=45$ manifold are observed in the standard magneto-optical trap of cesium. We develop a highly accurate method which uses the spectroscopic results in order to refine the quantum defect of the $49{S}_{1/2}$ state from the previous value $4.0495\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.0001$ extrapolated from $n=6--30\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}S$ states [K. H. Weber and C. J. Sansonetti, Phys. Rev. A 35, 4650 (1987)] to the new value $4.049\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}78\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.000\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}03$. For this purpose, we determine two characteristic properties of the avoided crossings: (i) the minimum gap between the upper and the lower levels, and (ii) the value of equal gaps between the upper and the middle levels and between the middle and the lower levels. The experimental results for the avoided crossing near 4 V/cm are (i) $(111.7\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1.3)h\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MHz}$, and (ii) $(57.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2.1)h\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MHz}$. For comparison, quantum mechanical simulations based on the published quantum defect yield (i) $109.52h\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MHz}$, and (ii) $56.04h\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MHz}$. The refined quantum defect is adjusted such that it yields (i) $111.50h\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MHz}$, and (ii) $56.98h\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MHz}$, in even better agreement with the experimental results. The theoretical values of the electric fields for (i) and (ii) differ by 0.03 V/cm, in perfect agreement with the experimental results. The refinement also improves the agreement of their absolute values. The remaining \ensuremath{\sim}1.5% difference is attributed to effects of stray fields.

Solitons riding on solitons and the quantum Newton's cradle.

The reduced dynamics for dark and bright soliton chains in the one-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation is used to study the behavior of collective compression waves corresponding to Toda lattice solitons. We coin the term hypersoliton to describe such solitary waves riding on a chain of solitons. It is observed that in the case of dark soliton chains, the formulated reduction dynamics provides an accurate an robust evolution of traveling hypersolitons. As an application to Bose-Einstein condensates trapped in a standard harmonic potential, we study the case of a finite dark soliton chain confined at the center of the trap. When the central chain is hit by a dark soliton, the energy is transferred through the chain as a hypersoliton that, in turn, ejects a dark soliton on the other end of the chain that, as it returns from its excursion up the trap, hits the central chain repeating the process. This periodic evolution is an analog of the classical Newton's cradle.

Standardized Assessment of Biodiversity Trends in Tropical Forest Protected Areas: The End Is Not in Sight.

Extinction rates in the Anthropocene are three orders of magnitude higher than background and disproportionately occur in the tropics, home of half the world’s species. Despite global efforts to combat tropical species extinctions, lack of high-quality, objective information on tropical biodiversity has hampered quantitative evaluation of conservation strategies. In particular, the scarcity of population-level monitoring in tropical forests has stymied assessment of biodiversity outcomes, such as the status and trends of animal populations in protected areas. Here, we evaluate occupancy trends for 511 populations of terrestrial mammals and birds, representing 244 species from 15 tropical forest protected areas on three continents. For the first time to our knowledge, we use annual surveys from tropical forests worldwide that employ a standardized camera trapping protocol, and we compute data analytics that correct for imperfect detection. We found that occupancy declined in 22%, increased in 17%, and exhibited no change in 22% of populations during the last 3–8 years, while 39% of populations were detected too infrequently to assess occupancy changes. Despite extensive variability in occupancy trends, these 15 tropical protected areas have not exhibited systematic declines in biodiversity (i.e., occupancy, richness, or evenness) at the community level. Our results differ from reports of widespread biodiversity declines based on aggregated secondary data and expert opinion and suggest less extreme deterioration in tropical forest protected areas. We simultaneously fill an important conservation data gap and demonstrate the value of large-scale monitoring infrastructure and powerful analytics, which can be scaled to incorporate additional sites, ecosystems, and monitoring methods. In an era of catastrophic biodiversity loss, robust indicators produced from standardized monitoring infrastructure are critical to accurately assess population outcomes and identify conservation strategies that can avert biodiversity collapse.

Multi-decadal decline in reef fish abundance and species richness in the southeast USA assessed by standardized trap catches

Reef fish species naturally fluctuate in abundance over various temporal and spatial scales, but recent broad-scale declines in abundance have been observed worldwide and attributed to various anthropogenic influences. We used 25 years of fishery-independent trap data (N = 11,237 trap hauls) to examine the spatial and temporal variability in temperate reef fish abundance along the southeast coast of the USA, a relatively understudied region with many economically important reef fish species. Overall, 441,298 individuals from 118 species were caught in the trap survey. Number of species and total number of individuals caught in the trap survey declined over the 25 years, but when separated, nontargeted fish species declined more than fishery-targeted species. For instance, traps caught a median of 18 nontargeted individuals and a median of 2–3 nontargeted reef fish species in the early 1990s, but by the 2010s, traps caught a median of fewer than three nontargeted individuals and a median of one nontarget species. Using generalized additive models, we found that the catch of fishery-targeted and nontargeted species was positively related to bottom water temperature, while depth influenced nontargeted and fishery-targeted species in opposite ways. The substantial and consistent decline in nontargeted fish species suggests that more research and management attention should be given to these often ignored species. These results suggest that the temperate reef fish community in the southeast USA is influenced by more than just fishing, perhaps including invasive species (e.g., lionfish Pterois volitans), decadal-scale environmental variability, or climate change.

The Technical and Performance Characteristics of a Low-Cost, Simply Constructed, Black Light Moth Trap

The universal mercury vapor black light trap is an effective device used for collecting moth specimens in a wide variety of habitats; yet, they can present challenges for researchers. The mercury vapor trap is often powered by a heavy automotive battery making it difficult to conduct extensive surveys in remote regions. The mercury vapor trap also carries a considerable financial cost per trap unit, making trapping challenging with low research budgets. Here, we describe the development and trapping properties of a lighter, simply constructed, and less expensive trap. The LED funnel trap consists of a funnel, soda bottles with plastic vanes, and is powered by rechargeable 9-V batteries. Two strips of low-wavelength LEDs are used as attractants. We tested the trapping parameters of this trap design compared to a standard mercury vapor trap over 10 trap nights in a suburban woodlot in the summer of 2015. The mercury vapor trap caught significantly more moth individuals than the LED trap (average of 78 vs 40 moths per trap night; P < 0.05), and significantly more species than the LED trap (23 vs 15 per trap night; P < 0.05); the mercury vapor trap caught a total of 104 macromoth species over the duration of the study, compared to a total of 87 by the LED trap. Despite the lower yields, the low cost of the LED trap (<$30 ea.) makes it superior to the mercury vapor trap in cost-acquisition per moth species and per moth individual trapped. The LED trap may be a viable alternative to the standard mercury vapor trap, facilitating insect trapping in more diverse settings.

TIGER BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: CARABIDAE: CICINDELINAE) OF COMPOSTELA VALLEY PROVINCE, MINDANAO ISLAND, PHILIPPINES

The first faunistic record of tiger beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Cicindelinae) in Compostela Valley Province, Mindanao with notes on their habitat is presented. Opportunistic sampling, standard light trapping and photo documentation were conducted in selected areas from January to April 2013 and in September 2015. One hundred four tiger beetles belonging to twelve species and seven genera were recorded. An astonishing (100%) endemicity was observed identified to subspecies level. Thopeutica and Calomera species, specifically Thopeutica anichtchenkoi Wiesner, 2015 and Calomera mindaoensis Cassola, 2000 were observed to be abundant in the samples mostly found in the mountainous and forested open riparian ecosystem of Cagan, New Bataan. Cylindera (Ifasina) discreta elaphroides (Dokhtouroff 1882) was the most common species and was found in different habitat types, but the majority of the species showed a narrow and specialized habitat preference. Protection and conservation of remaining forest areas in Cagan is especially important in preserving endemic species.

Live-capture of feral cats using tracking dogs and darting, with comparisons to leg-hold trapping

Context Predation by feral cats is a key threatening process to many species of native Australian wildlife. Unfortunately, cats are difficult to capture using standard trapping techniques, limiting the potential to conduct research on their ecology and impacts. Aims We present an alternative capture method: remote chemical immobilisation after tracking with trained dogs. We also compare capture rates to a concurrent soft-jaw leg-hold trapping program. Methods We used dogs to capture cats detected by spotlighting at night, and also recaptured cats fitted with telemetry collars during the day. Cats were either bailed on the ground or treed and then hand-netted, or chemically immobilised using darts shot from a CO2-powered dart rifle, loaded with tiletamine–zolazepam at ~6 mg kg–1. Factors affecting the success rate of capturing cats using dogs were assessed. Efficiency in terms of cats captured per person-hours of fieldwork were compared using trained dogs versus leg-hold trapping. Key results We attempted 160 cat captures using the tracking dogs with 114 of those being successful. There were no mortalities or debilitating physical injuries associated with chemical immobilisation; however, sedated cats had prolonged recoveries (&gt;4 h). Capture success with the tracking dogs increased as the dogs gained experience. Capture success rates per person-hour of fieldwork were four times greater using spotlighting with tracking dogs than using leg-hold traps. The success rate of recaptures using dogs was 97%. Conclusions The use of trained tracking dogs proved an effective method for capturing feral cats. The method had a much higher success rate than live-trapping with leg-hold traps, took less effort (in terms of person-hours) and caused less physical injuries than did leg-hold traps. However, substantial setup costs and time are required, which are discussed. Implications Using these methods could improve efficiency and outcomes when catching feral cats, and enable more data per individual cat to be collected than otherwise.

Electron irradiation-induced defects in Mo-diluted FeCrNi austenitic alloy during void swelling incubation

The microstructural features and the effect of Mo addition in FeCrNi austenitic alloy during incubation period were investigated using positron annihilation technique and micro- Vickers Hardness. The electron irradiation, which could induce vacancy defects in material, was performed at room temperature up to the dose of 1.7×10-4 and 5×10-4 dpa, respectively. The defect concentration was estimated about 10-4–10-7 though the standard trapping model. The added Mo atoms could trap vacancies to form Mo-vacancy complexes, which may restrain the migration and growth of vacancy defects during electron irradiation. In addition, the microstructural evolution during electron radiation resulted in hardening, while the added Mo might improve the hardening property of the alloy.

Optical trapping performance of dielectric-metallic patchy particles.

We demonstrate a series of simulation experiments examining the optical trapping behavior of composite micro-particles consisting of a small metallic patch on a spherical dielectric bead. A full parameter space of patch shapes, based on current state of the art manufacturing techniques, and optical properties of the metallic film stack is examined. Stable trapping locations and optical trap stiffness of these particles are determined based on the particle design and potential particle design optimizations are discussed. A final test is performed examining the ability to incorporate these composite particles with standard optical trap metrology technologies.

Ocelot Population Status in Protected Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Forest fragmentation and habitat loss are detrimental to top carnivores, such as jaguars (Panthera onca) and pumas (Puma concolor), but effects on mesocarnivores, such as ocelots (Leopardus pardalis), are less clear. Ocelots need native forests, but also might benefit from the local extirpation of larger cats such as pumas and jaguars through mesopredator release. We used a standardized camera trap protocol to assess ocelot populations in six protected areas of the Atlantic forest in southeastern Brazil where over 80% of forest remnants are < 50 ha. We tested whether variation in ocelot abundance could be explained by reserve size, forest cover, number of free-ranging domestic dogs and presence of top predators. Ocelot abundance was positively correlated with reserve size and the presence of top predators (jaguar and pumas) and negatively correlated with the number of dogs. We also found higher detection probabilities in less forested areas as compared to larger, intact forests. We suspect that smaller home ranges and higher movement rates in smaller, more degraded areas increased detection. Our data do not support the hypothesis of mesopredator release. Rather, our findings indicate that ocelots respond negatively to habitat loss, and thrive in large protected areas inhabited by top predators.

The fossilization of non-current English pronunciation in German EFL teaching

The German termHandyis a neat and singular creation, referring to the ‘mobile phone’ (British English) or ‘cell phone’ (American English), in itself a unique and most useful invention – handy, indeed! What is even more remarkable is the pronunciation of this term: /hεndi:/. While the second vowel mirrors the pronunciation of word-final ‘i’ sounds in German (cf.Gabi, Salami, Müsli), the ‘a’ does not. Instead, it appears to reflect a socially generalized view of what a short ‘a’ in English is supposed to sound like. And this is not the front, near-open ‘ash’ vowel [æ], the ‘standard lexical set TRAP’, as defined by Wells (1982: 129), but rather a cardinal [ε], the ‘standard lexical set DRESS’ (128), as found in German in other English borrowings:JetlagorJet-Lag/jεtlεg/,Gag/gεg/,relaxen/relεksn/,scannen/skεnǝn/, etc.