Bait for Lepidoptera

Leptraps at aol.com Leptraps at aol.com
Mon Oct 11 09:01:20 EDT 1999


There are many baits for attracting Lepidoptera. Having used bait traps for a 
few years, I have tried everything and anything. Some of the most difficult 
species to visually see much less collect with a net can easily be caught 
with a trap. Here are some examples.

Eunica tatila tatilista: This species occurs in hammocks in the Florida Keys 
and south Florida mainland. Collecting in a dense thick hammocks can be 
challenging. I have visited several hammocks on Key Largo in mid-February and 
found several individuals of Eunica tatila tatilista. However, I came upon 
Soapberry Tree that was heavy with fruit, much of which had dropped to the 
ground and began to rot. Eunica tatila tatilista was all over the rotting 
Soapberry's. I immediately got a bait trap, gathered several gallon zip-lock 
bags full of rSoapberry's, baited the trap with some and took the remainder 
to bait other traps. I collected several dozen Eunica tatila tatilista in 
each trap. I found them in hammocks I visited regularly, and never saw the 
one until I used soapberry's.

Eunica monima: While visiting Bauer Hammock in Dade County, I was collecting 
along the North edge in an Avocado Grove. Field workers had trimed the 
suckers from the lower tree trunks and placed them in piles to rot. Upon 
these piles were numerous Eunica monima sipping fluids from the ends of the 
limb that had been cut. I wanted to try this. I stopped at another Avocado 
Grove, cut some very green suckers, took them home, ran them through my 
blender (Yes, I have two blenders just for making bait. One for sweet bait, 
fruit. The other for sour bait, toads, frogs, feces, etc.), placed the pulp 
in zip-locks and baited several traps a day latter. I trapped hundreds of 
them. However, the bait only worked for a few days. I tried it several times 
afterwards without any luck.

Basilarchia weidemeyerii: I have visited Colorado on numerous occasions and 
always used bait traps. I used my standard Apples, Bananas and Sugar mix and 
would take a few Basilarchia weidemeyeri. Near a small boggy area on Four 
Mile Creek in Park County. An ATV had run over some Blueberry Bushes and I 
observed several Basilarchia weidemeyeri visiting the crushed blueberries. I 
picked about a pint of the BeeBee size berries and baited a trap. I trapped 
about a dozen Basilarchia weidemeyeri on my last day. I returned to Colorado 
a year later and brought some store bought berries. They did very well in 
Grand and Park Counties. Unfortunately, they produced not one Basilarchia 
weidemeyeri in Gilpin, Boulder or Grand Counties although I saw many on the 
wing.

If you don't try you never found out!

In 1994 I used bait traps along St. Louis Creek in Grand County, Colorado for 
Polygonia. Instead of Polygonia, I collected several Oeneis jutta. I enjoy 
collecting above the tree line and after my success with Oeneis jutta, I 
wanted to trap Oeneis polyxenes above the tree line on Horseshoe Mountain in 
Park County. I set out a bait trap by suspending it between a tree limb that 
I wedged in the rocks of a steep ravine. I baited the trap with Apples, 
Bananas and Sugar. When I returned the next day, the harsh mountain wind had 
knocked the bait out of the trap. However, when I went to gather trap, much 
to my surprise, inside were eleven Erebia magdalena and two Oeneis polyxenes. 
They found the bait before the wind could knock it out. I have not been back 
to try it again.

These are just a few success stories. I have had many more without success. 
It includes a trip to west Texas and Arizona this year with absolutely no 
success.

Be observant, what you see may get you a few good bugs!

Try bait trapping. It works for me.

Oh yes, try your urine after drinking lots of beer. You may get a surprise!

Leroy C. Koehn
Lake Worth, FL


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