Journal of Entomological Science | 2021
The Effectiveness of Malaise Traps, H-Traps, and Sticky Traps for Collecting Horseflies (Diptera: Tabanidae)
Abstract
The Malaise trap was initially constructed in the 1930s for collecting many groups of insects, including horseflies (Malaise, 1937, Entomol. Tidsk. 58: 148– 160). This trap has undergone many changes and modifications (Townes, 1962, Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 64: 253–262; Townes, 1972, Entomol. News 83: 239– 247) that have increased its efficiency in collecting horseflies. In the last 50 yr, many trap types have been designed for collecting horseflies worldwide, and many studies have been conducted with different types of conventional traps in Europe, especially from faunistic perspectives. Malaise traps were used in several faunistic studies in Central Europe. During the 1970s, the efficiency of several types of Malaise traps for collecting horseflies in the United States was compared by Roberts (1970, Mosq. News 30: 567–571; Roberts, 1972, Mosq. News 32: 542– 547). Often Malaise trap efficiency was enhanced by different attractants (i.e., ammonia, carbon dioxide, or octenol) to significantly improve trap efficiency. Malaise traps designed by Townes (1962, 1972) have been used to evaluate the efficiency of different trap types for collecting of horseflies in eastern Croatia, with many of studies indicating that trap design affected quantity of specimens collected (Hribar et al., 1991, J. Am. Mosq. Contr. Assoc. 7: 657–659; Mihok, 2002, Bull. Entomol. Res. 92: 385–403). The first use of large black objects in traps to attract horseflies was demonstrated by Thorsteinson et al. (1966, Can. J. Zool. 44: 275– 279). Allan and Stoffolano (1986, J. Med. Entomol. 23: 83–91) later reported that shiny black spheres attract horseflies. Recently, Otártics et al. (2019, Nat. Croat. 28: 51–61) used H-traps (with a shiny black beach ball) in a study of the horsefly fauna on an equestrian farm in Hungary, whereas Kline et al. (2018, J. Vector Ecol. 43: 63–70) used a similar H-trap in comparative trapping studies in Florida and North Carolina in the United States.