Insect traps are used to monitor or directly reduce insect populations. They typically use food, visual lures, chemical attractants and pheromones as bait and are installed so that they do not injure other animals or humans or result in residues in foods or feeds. Visual lures use light, bright colors and shapes to attract pests

Pest (animal)

A pest is an animal which is detrimental to humans or human concerns. It is a loosely defined term, often overlapping with the related terms vermin, weeds, parasites and pathogens...

. Chemical attractants or pheromone

Pheromone

A pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting outside the body of the secreting individual to impact the behavior of the receiving individual...

s may attract only a specific sex. Insect traps are sometimes used in pest management programs instead of pesticides but are more often used to look at seasonal and distributional patterns of pest occurrence. This information may then be used in other pest management approaches.

The trap mechanism or bait can vary widely. Light traps with ultraviolet attract certain insects. Designs differ according to the behaviour of the insects being studied. Grasshoppers and some beetles are attracted to lights at a long range but are repelled by it at short range. Farrow's light trap has a large base so that it captures insects that may otherwise fly away from regular light traps. Flies and wasps are attracted by proteins. Mosquitoes and many other insects are attracted by bright colors, carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...

, lactic acid

Lactic acid

Lactic acid, also known as milk acid, is a chemical compound that plays a role in various biochemical processes and was first isolated in 1780 by the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele. Lactic acid is a carboxylic acid with the chemical formula C3H6O3...

, floral or fruity fragrances, warmth, moisture and pheromones. Synthetic attractants like Methyl eugenol are very effective with Tephritid

Tephritidae

Tephritidae is one of two fly families referred to as "fruit flies", the other family being Drosophilidae. Tephritidae does not include the biological model organisms of the genus Drosophila , which is often called the "common fruit fly". There are nearly 5,000 described species of tephritid...

 flies. Yellow pan traps are used to monitor aphids and some other sap sucking insects. Pitfall trap

Pitfall trap

A pitfall trap is a trapping pit for small animals, such as insects, amphibians and reptiles. Pitfall traps are mainly used for ecology studies and ecologic pest control. Animals that enter a pitfall trap are unable to escape, and may either be killed by the trap or remain unharmed...

s are used for ground foraging and flightless insects such as beetles of the family Carabidae.

Insect traps in practice

At present, several traps are used both in the commercial sector (e.g. commercial greenhouses) and by individual gardeners. The commercial sector primarily focuses on highly effective traps as pheromone trap

Pheromone trap

A pheromone trap is a type of insect trap that uses pheromones to lure insects. Sex pheromones and aggregating pheromones are the most common types used. A pheromone-impregnated lure is encased in a conventional trap such as a Delta trap, water-pan trap, or funnel trap.-Sensitivity:Pheromone traps...

s, while gardeners tend to stay with low-tech, cheap traps based on foods or home-grown production.

Examples of food traps

Following traps are used extensively by gardeners :

• eggshell
  Eggshell
  An eggshell is the outer covering of a hard-shelled egg and of some forms of eggs with soft outer coats.- Insect eggs :Insects and other arthropods lay a variety of styles and shapes of eggs. Some have gelatinous or skin-like coverings, others have hard eggshells. Softer shells are mostly protein....
  
  s: strewn on the ground; protects plants against snails
• sunflower
  Sunflower
  Sunflower is an annual plant native to the Americas. It possesses a large inflorescence . The sunflower got its name from its huge, fiery blooms, whose shape and image is often used to depict the sun. The sunflower has a rough, hairy stem, broad, coarsely toothed, rough leaves and circular heads...
  
  -flowerbottoms: against mice
  MICE
  -Fiction:*Mice , alien species in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*The Mice -Acronyms:* "Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, Exhibitions", facilities terminology for events...
  
   and rat
  Rat
  Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
  
  s
• carrot
  Carrot
  The carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange in colour, though purple, red, white, and yellow varieties exist. It has a crisp texture when fresh...
  
   disks: against click beetle
  Click beetle
  The family Elateridae is commonly called click beetles , elaters, snapping beetles, spring beetles or "skipjacks". They are a cosmopolitan beetle family characterized by the unusual click mechanism they possess...
  
  s and crane flies
  Crane fly
  A crane fly is an insect in the family Tipulidae. Adults are very slender, long-legged flies that may vary in length from though tropical species may exceed to ....
  
  
• sawdust
  Sawdust
  Sawdust is a by-product of cutting lumber with a saw, composed of fine particles of wood. It can present a hazard in manufacturing industries, especially in terms of its flammability....
  
  : against onion fly, carrot fly
  Carrot fly
  The carrot fly is a pest of gardens and farms, and mainly affects the crop of carrots, but can also attack parsnips, parsley and celery.It is a member of the family Psilidae .-Larvae:...
  
   and cabbage flies
• flour
  Flour
  Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
  
   grains: made from 3 parts flour, 2 parts chalc, and 1 part sugar, knid to a grain; against mice
• beer
  Beer
  Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
  
   and regular pot traps: small pots, filled with 2 cm beer or without anything at all, dug into the soil; against snails and other insects

See also

• Malaise trap
  Malaise trap
  A Malaise trap is a large, tent-like structure used for trapping flying insects particularly Hymenoptera and Diptera. The trap is made of a material such as terylene netting and can be various colours. Insects fly into the tent wall and are funnelled into a collecting vessel attached to highest point...
  
  
• Insecticidal soap
  Insecticidal soap
  Insecticidal soap is defined as any of the potassium fatty acid soaps used to control many plant pests. Insecticidal soap is typically sprayed on plants in the same manner as other insecticides. Insecticidal soap works only on direct contact with the pests. The fatty acids disrupt the structure and...
  
  
• List of repellent plants
• List of beneficial weeds
• Organic farming
  Organic farming
  Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...
  
  
• Biological pest control
  Biological pest control
  Biological control of pests in agriculture is a method of controlling pests that relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms...
  
  
• Pheromone trap
  Pheromone trap
  A pheromone trap is a type of insect trap that uses pheromones to lure insects. Sex pheromones and aggregating pheromones are the most common types used. A pheromone-impregnated lure is encased in a conventional trap such as a Delta trap, water-pan trap, or funnel trap.-Sensitivity:Pheromone traps...
  
  

External links

• Insect Attractants and Traps R. Weinzierl, T. Henn, P. G. Koehler and C. L. Tucker University of Florida IFAS Extension
• Insect Traps in Conservation Surveys Dale Paul Kronkright waac Newsletter Volume 13, Number 1, Jan. 1991, pp. 21–23
• Integrated Pest Management
• A.Tereshkin Devices for Ichneumonidae collecting.