19 replies to this topic

[Miles]

Hello all!

 

About two years ago I participated in the wonderful Ants of the Southwest course at the American Museum of Natural History's Southwestern Research Station in Portal, Arizona. I had the chance to do some desert and mountain blacklighting while there, and it was a load of fun.

 

Now, I'd like to try my hand at some enthusiast backlighting here in the mountains of Idaho.

 

For those of you who have blacklighted before, do you think I can use something like these (external Amazon link) strapped to a white sheet? Would they be powerful enough? I'd like to avoid having to use a generator for this project.

 

I'd love to hear people's thoughts on an economical backlighting setup.

 

Miles

Edited by Miles, March 17 2016 - 6:37 AM.

[Foogoo]

I have that exact light, it's very small. Useful for finding cat pee and seeing how disgusting your kitchen counter is but even though I haven't tried, I think it'll be too small/dim for blacklighting.

 

A few folks have used full length fluorescent tubes with luck. I'm a believer in UV LED strips. They have built in resistors so all need to do is connect a battery to them. Just beware of cheap ones that aren't true UV.

[Subverted]

I'm not sure what the cheapest option would be for running a blacklight off of a battery. I know most people run an inverter on their car battery and idle their car from time to time to top things up so if that's an option definitely consider it!

 

I have not personally tried using UV LEDs for attracting ants but I know they can work for finding scorpions...

[dspdrew]

This will attract tons of ants.

 

http://www.amazon.co...e/dp/B0006MQSR6

[gcsnelling]

Miles, Bioquuip does have a 12 volt version which we also used in Az. It works great, also as is the case with stuff from them a bit pricey.

[dspdrew]

I'm kind of in the process of designing a pretty powerful portable trap. This is the thread I made for it a long time ago.

 

http://www.formicult...trap-diy-design

[Barristan]

Do you catch a lot of queens with these light traps? I never tried it and I also am not allowed to. Light traps are illegal in Germany.

[dspdrew]

Light traps are illegal in Germany.

 

 

Honestly, I'm surprised they aren't illegal here in "the land of the free" too.

[Barristan]

I have to correct myself. They aren't completely illegal but you need a permission from authorities to use them. If you have a good reason for using them (I don't think collecting queens for ant keeping would be such a good reason  ) you may get one.

Edited by Barristan, March 17 2016 - 1:15 PM.

[josh38]

From a distance, insects mostly tend to be attracted to blue to UV wavelengths of light. When the insects get in close proximity to the lamp, heat starts becoming a factor in whether and how long they will want to stay around. Being more efficient, UV led products less heat than other types of lighting.

[dspdrew]

For my project, I chose to go with UV bulbs taken directly from bug zappers. I'm sure those companies had the money and resources to do the research and testing to find the most attraction of insects. Most of this really is already known and available, you just have to find it and do some reading. That's why I'm using fluorescent UVA bulbs.

[Miles]

Thanks for all of the input guys. 

[Gregory2455]

Hello all!

 

About two years ago I participated in the wonderful Ants of the Southwest course at the American Museum of Natural History's Southwestern Research Station in Portal, Arizona. I had the chance to do some desert and mountain blacklighting while there, and it was a load of fun.

 

Now, I'd like to try my hand at some enthusiast backlighting here in the mountains of Idaho.

 

For those of you who have blacklighted before, do you think I can use something like these (external Amazon link) strapped to a white sheet? Would they be powerful enough? I'd like to avoid having to use a generator for this project.

 

I'd love to hear people's thoughts on an economical backlighting setup.

 

Miles

Wayyyyyy too small. I use one like the one Drew linked.

Light traps are illegal in Germany.

Why?

[drtrmiller]

I want to make or buy a funnel light trap I can hang outside my window.  I used to have one about 12+ years ago—a Zoo Med Light Napper—but I think they're discontinued.

I don't care for sheet lighting, where you have to sit there and monitor it.  I'd rather wake up in the morning and see what bugs I got the previous night.

[gcsnelling]

I have used light traps in the past and although they are nice because you do not have to monitor them all night. If they are kill type traps they have the down side of a potentially very large amount of unintended victims and unless you have an outlet for this by catch this is terribly poor environmental option,If a live trap it is better however you still end up with material which you can not use.

[Ants4fun]

I have a live trap I was thinking of using. It has a black light and a fan that sucks them in a container with a mesh. I am just scared to keep a queen overnight in that, seeing how it dehydrates the bugs.

Edited by Ants4fun, March 29 2016 - 7:13 PM.

[gcsnelling]

Live traps do have their down sides, that is one of them

[drtrmiller]

I have a live trap I was thinking of using. It has a black light and a fan that sucks them in a container with a mesh. I am just scared to keep a queen overnight in that, seeing how it dehydrates the bugs.

 

I saw those too.  You could place material in the mesh container to shield the insects from the air blowing down on them (a few leaves, soil).  As long as you check it daily, I would think it might work.

Edited by drtrmiller, March 30 2016 - 4:50 AM.

[Subverted]

There are a few problems with live traps that make them less than ideal for collecting ants...

 

The biggest problem is keeping the things being collected from killing each other. Sometimes providing enough hide areas can alleviate that problem but when I was trying to use this method to collect moths I would usually end up with a bunch of chewed up moths and an upset spider, mantis, or other predatory invertebrate. 

 

Setting up a sheet with a blacklight CFL would provide a lot better results if ants are the target, imo.

[dspdrew]

I would usually end up with a bunch of chewed up moths and an upset spider, mantis, or other predatory invertebrate.

 

Or a bunch of mangled insects and one happy Camponotus ocreatus major.