Sugaring

[Jungletour at aol.com]

David Britton writes:

<<BTW, it is true!!  Gross, but true.  I don't want to think too hard about
pitfall trapping with this bait.  How does the entomologist get the bait
into the trap......Urrgh.>>

On a couple of occasions, I have used my own fecal matter in a butterfly trap
in tropical regions. Although it is not by a long shot my bait of choice,
there is a fairly controlled and clean way of pulling it off, dumping it in
or loading up your trap :>. In my traps, I utilize small deli dishes for the
bait. The process is then to simply place the deli dish under your but and
catch one or two droppings but be careful not to catch too much. Then place a
deli dish lid on top of your dish and store it in a place where the smell
wont bother anyone. When you set your trap, preferably as soon as possible,
you take the lid off the deli dish and place the dish into the trap.
Sometimes I use surgical gloves when working with rotting fish, feces and
rotting carrion and I also take a few baby wipes placed in a ziplock bag to
clean my hands regularly. 

Well overall the process is not very pleasant to say the least but when one
has traveled several thousand miles to achieve a variety of quests sometimes
it pays to put up with a little crap. On my last trip to the Amazon, I
discovered a more pleasant smelling bait which is a mixture of sugarcane
juice and banana. I captured a male Agrias claudina croesus on the first day
using this bait and I have also been told that female Agrias, which very
rarely appears in traps, prefer fermenting fruits only with no additives. 

Jim Hanlon