An Omnidirectional Flight Trap for Ascending and Descending Insects

A study currently under way required non-attractant traps to collect and preserve for taxonomic identification flying insects inhabiting the crown and shrub layers of a slash pine ( Pinus elliottii var. elliottii Engelm.) and pondcypress ( Taxodium distichum var. nutans (Ait.) Sweet) forest. We concluded that an omnidirectional flight trap was appropriate. After failing to find a satisfactory design in the literature, we developed the trap illustrated in Fig. 1. Our design combines an original upper collecting unit with a modification of the trap described by Hines and Heikkenen (1977).