Homemade Bucket BL traps?

[rayrard]

Happy new year everyone!

I'm looking to get more into night collecting this coming year but money is kind of an issue. I don't really want to spend 200+ dollars on the Bioquip bucket trap setup and I was wondering if anyone had cost-saving ideas on making your own bucket trap.

It seems like the battery and charger are the most expensive part, but the Bioquip one is nearly 150 bucks. I've seen batteries on other sites that seem cheaper but I don't know if they are the proper equipment for a 15 watt blacklight.
www.chromebattery.com/sealed-lead-acid-batteries.html
scroll a little ways down and there are 1Amp 12V 12AH batteries for only $42, but is this too little for a blacklight trap? Are the Bioquip batteries any different. It seems like their specs are 12V 14AH, but no amps are given on Bioquip's page. I mean it seems a bit of a difference between $42 and $150, and I'm unsure if these little scooter/Hoverround batteries are as good as a car battery. Are there any good options for battery/charger combos that are respectively priced?

As for the other components, I think I'll just buy the DC 15 watt light off Bioquip and try and build my own bucket and funnel. Are there any ideal ways to make the funnel opening and will Lowes/Home Depot funnels fit in a 5 gallon bucket? What do you make the baffles from?

Thanks for any help, I've only done moths at a plug-in blacklight on the porch. I'd like to sample some decent habitats.

[evra]

Bucket traps are for putting out somewhere remote before dark, leaving them unattended, and then picking them back up in the morning and spending sometimes your whole morning picking through the contents. They tend to work really well for smaller moths, and OK for larger ones. The two big problems that I've had are: beetles and rain. Both will totally destroy the moths if you aren't careful or you don't have some kind of pass-through or sorting mechanism for water and beetles inside your bucket. Of course things can get stolen, knocked over by wind, etc. when it is left unattended.

With that said to answer your question, any 12V battery will work pretty much. A lawnmower or motorcycle battery from an auto parts store will keep a 15V BL trap going all night, but probably not for 2 nights, so you'll need to recharge it the next day.

I think the most difficult parts to make would be the vains in the top and finding a large enough metal funnel, those are the 2 pieces I would buy from Bioquip.

I'm not sure exactly what you're going for, but in my experience, a lot of the large Saturniids won't seem to go into the bucket. I frequently check mine in the middle of the night and find several Hyalophora columbia gloveri or Antheraea oculea resting on the veins of the trap or on the ground next to the trap. If I had waited until dawn they certainly would have been bird food. For these species you're better off with a full blown light trap, but those are quite a bit more expensive.

[rayrard]

Thanks evra.

By "full blown light trap" do you mean a sheet MV setup or a larger bucket?

I have seen littler 3.5 gallon traps and 5 gallon traps but I guess it's the bucket opening that's more of a concern than the volume (there's not that many moths). The 3.5's have almost a big a mouth but are a little lighter to carry. The funnel opening seems tiny for Saturniids and Sphinxes and they really have to climb into the hole to get trapped. The little moths just fall in once they hit the baffles I guess.

As for rain, I can try to avoid rainy nights for trapping or fashion a rain drain myself. Beetles, couldn't one use some acetate in the trap to kill anything that gets trapped, or does the acetate wear off easily in a trap? I could see June bugs getting out of control. Are egg crates useful at preventing beetle damage to specimens?

[evra]

I mean a MV light with a generator. A generator alone is probably $200-$300, plus the rest on top of that is at least $100, even if you do it yourself.

In Arizona at least, there are some very common, ugly, and nasty Calosomas, as well as Chrysina gloriosa and C. beyeri which get down in the trap and their tarsi tear moth wings apart. If you're a beetle collector it's great, if you're a moth collector it's a serious problem.

The most effective killing agent that I've seen for a bucket trap is ethyl acetate and a strip of vapona (Hotshot No-Pest Strip available at a hardware store). The ethyl acetate knocks out the insects, and the vapona keeps them knocked out. Ethyl acetate alone I've found not to be nearly as effective.

I've seen some pretty big stuff fall down through the funnel, including many large Manducas, Pachysphinx occidentalis, large female Prionoxystus robiniae, etc. It's less of a problem with Sphingids. Personally I think it's how the large Saturniids fly into a light rather than the size of the hole at the bottom of the funnel. They tend to swoop in, hit, and then bounce off. Sphingids will hover right next to the light for a little while, and then when they stop, they fall right down the hole.

[WillM]

If you are handy with an electric drill and tin snips it is easy to make bucket traps. I use 3.5 or 5 gal buckets and make the vanes and funnels from aluminum flashing from Lowes or the like. Some folks use battery powered camp lights for the light source, just replace the bulb with a UV bulb. Caveat: I'm a beetle guy so those #^&@*leps just mess things up.

Will

[jamesm]

Since your question has mostly been answered, I will just throw out a couple comments.

As mentioned already, bucket traps make sense mostly in locations that are off-limits at night. Such areas like right-of-ways are usually too conspicuous in my experience and I do not dare leave any valuable equipment. Yes, I have had light traps vandalized (thrown down a hill!) in the most unlikely locations. Usually if I have access to an area during the day, it is not an issue to set up a sheet at night. My sheet setup always rivals my bucket trap (not even close), and consequently I rarely use a bucket trap anymore. It just wasn't practical in my part of the US.


James

[rayrard]

Jan 4, 2012 10:11:52 GMT -8 jamesm said:

Since your question has mostly been answered, I will just throw out a couple comments.

As mentioned already, bucket traps make sense mostly in locations that are off-limits at night. Such areas like right-of-ways are usually too conspicuous in my experience and I do not dare leave any valuable equipment. Yes, I have had light traps vandalized (thrown down a hill!) in the most unlikely locations. Usually if I have access to an area during the day, it is not an issue to set up a sheet at night. My sheet setup always rivals my bucket trap (not even close), and consequently I rarely use a bucket trap anymore. It just wasn't practical in my part of the US.


James

I think the biggest thing in favor of a bucket is the fact you can leave it overnight and don't have to stay with it through the weather and mosquitoes. I am not doubting that you will catch more with a sheet because the bucket only collects what tend to fall into the trap.

I am more looking for a cost-effective way of collecting at night that doesn't involve trips to gas stations 15 miles away that are busts more often than not, or porch light sampling which is mostly common yard stuff. To do an effective sheet, you'd need a generator and a BL/MV bulb. This seems a lot more cash than a bucket setup.

I've talked to other collectors and they've found that vandalism is rare unless you put the trap near habitation or on the side of the road in plain view. Certainly glowing neon buckets are going to get attention but are people really going to destroy them? I'd see kids doing it but not adults.

Thanks for the answers but I'm still unsure on the battery. Will a 1 Amp 12V12AH work for a night on a 15 watt BL or I need something different. 12V is required but are the amps and amp-hours important too?

[prillbug2]

I stay with mine. Mainly, because I'm monitoring what comes into the light, and I want to make sure that the ethyl acetate doesn't evaporate during the night, if I'm not using a No Pest Strip. I find that just like using a sheet light set up, that you have to keep beating the foliage to drive insects out, because not everything comes completely into the lights. I also want to make sure that my marine battery doesn't get low during the night, and sometimes I use a backup, if it was low to begin with, or just plain old.
I run my mercury vapor lights and all of my UV lights the same night, sometimes lighting up an acre wide area, of course spread about in various hot spots that I know exist after years of experience.
Three of my mercury vapor lights are security lights that cost roughly about $29.95 each. I had to attach an electric cord to make it accessible to the generator. Go to www. heartland.com and you should be able to find a 1000 watt generator for less than $250.00.
Ebates.com, if youbuy from one of their stores, you get money back.

Jeff Prill

[jamesm]

A sheet does not require a generator or an MV. I use a 12V Everstart Maxx-29 Battery (875 cranking amps, 125 Amp hours). I clamp on a 750W Black and Decker Inverter. I can run three blacklight tubes (20W each) about 7 hours. With only one bulb on, I suppose you could blacklight 2-3 nights. This setup can run an MV for a few hours.

I prefer not to use an MV. It's hard to see micro moths that sit near the bulb, and larger moths can be 20' away in the grass.

James

[prillbug2]

That's why I take a headlamp and flashlights so that I can see everything. Plus, my lights are set up somewhat above the sheet and they hang parallel and slightly away. I guarantee that I see everything that I'm looking for.
Jeff Prill

[rayrard]

Jan 4, 2012 15:26:29 GMT -8 jamesm said:

A sheet does not require a generator or an MV. I use a 12V Everstart Maxx-29 Battery (875 cranking amps, 125 Amp hours). I clamp on a 750W Black and Decker Inverter. I can run three blacklight tubes (20W each) about 7 hours. With only one bulb on, I suppose you could blacklight 2-3 nights. This setup can run an MV for a few hours.

I prefer not to use an MV. It's hard to see micro moths that sit near the bulb, and larger moths can be 20' away in the grass.

James

that's the question I still am stuck on: the battery type. The ones in my original post are cheaper but seem weak compared to the 875 amp, 125 AH thing you have. The 12V part is clear, but what difference does the rest make besides the number of bulbs? I am ignorant of batteries, so forgive the stupid question. Is a 1 or 2 amp wheelchair battery gonna run a 15W BL despite the 12V spec? How much did your battery and inverter setup run, if you don't mind?

[evra]

Again, it really depends on what you're looking for. For large Saturniids and Sphingids, running a MV on a generator is the way to go. If you're into small Noctuids/Geos/micros, UV only is in many ways superior.

As far as the battery goes, the math is theoretically pretty simple. A 15 watt UV bulb should draw 1.25 amps on 12V DC (15/12 = 1.25). If you use it for 10 hours in a night, this comes out to 12.5 amp hrs. As I said, I think pretty much any car battery should be more than enough, and most motorcycle/lawnmower batteries which are significantly smaller and lighter than a car battery should work for at least 1 full night. If you want to hike it out to a remote location, a full-size car battery would be a lot heavier and more awkward. You might want to ask someone at an auto parts store to recommend one that can handle being exposed to weather and one that can be recharged frequently though.

[rayrard]

Jan 4, 2012 16:37:41 GMT -8 evra said:

Again, it really depends on what you're looking for. For large Saturniids and Sphingids, running a MV on a generator is the way to go. If you're into small Noctuids/Geos/micros, UV only is in many ways superior.

As far as the battery goes, the math is theoretically pretty simple. A 15 watt UV bulb should draw 1.25 amps on 12V DC (15/12 = 1.25). If you use it for 10 hours in a night, this comes out to 12.5 amp hrs. As I said, I think pretty much any car battery should be more than enough, and most motorcycle/lawnmower batteries which are significantly smaller and lighter than a car battery should work for at least 1 full night. If you want to hike it out to a remote location, a full-size car battery would be a lot heavier and more awkward. You might want to ask someone at an auto parts store to recommend one that can handle being exposed to weather and one that can be recharged frequently though.

thanks alot... that was a good explanation

[prillbug2]

I only get about three hours from inverters before it drains the battery. I only use them for UV lights, and do not use them for MV lights. However, I can run a MV light all night on a 2000 watt generator, which only cost me $125.00 at UFS, here in Peoria, Illinois. I knew one Lepidopterist from the Illinois Natural History Survey who used a motorcycle battery to power his UV light for about 15 years. He said it was the most reliable battery he had ever used as long as he kept adding sulfuric acid to the chamber every year and kept it clean. I saw him use it, and it put out a very bright light. The rare species that I saw at his light that night made me drop from exhaustion the next day. But then, we had found a hot spot and it was going to be great collecting, no matter what. These batteries cost between $29.99-69.00. However, I would recommend using a gel battery, since they last longer, even though they are little more expensive.
Jeff Prill

[rayrard]

a generator would be great, especially at SE AZ or S. Texas or something where I was running serious wattage.

I think for a BL a battery would work better. Especially since I could hook up a trap when I'm in a hurry and get in the the morning, or hook it up to a BL on a sheet if I'm looking to sample an area more intensively or take big stuff. Best of both worlds and I'm sure to get more stuff than I'm used to at the porch light no matter what.

Thanks for the pointers!