ARS | Publication request: ADAPTATION OF A ROTATING SAMPLER FOR PITFALL COLLECTING

Submitted to: Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: August 20, 2002
Publication Date: November 1, 2002
Citation: ELLSBURY, M.M., NOBLE, C.W., FRENCH, B.W., NIEMEYER, M. ADAPTATION OF A ROTATING SAMPLER FOR PITFALL COLLECTING. ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA ANNUAL MEETING. 2002. Paper no. D0348.

Technical Abstract: Adaptation and modification of a collection bottle rotator for use in pitfall trapping of ground-dwelling arthropods is described. A commercially available rotator unit was mounted to the underside of a disc cut from treated plywood as a supporting structure. During use the entire unit was suspended below ground level over a pit excavated into soil at the collection site so that only the pitfall opening was visible when the plywood disc was covered with surface residue from the site. At the end of a study period, the unit must be uncovered to retrieve specimens and reinstalled in the excavated pit prior to the next collection period. In our application pitfall rotator units are used to study diurnal activity cycles of Carabidae in rotated corn and soybean cropping systems.