Forum Entomologi Italiani

Hi everybody.
I want to ask what kind of liquid you use in traps. I read some forums salty water, car antifreeze or winegar (nit). Car-antifreeze is very good but so expensive... Is salty water or nit protect the beetles like car antifreeze... Or any other suggestion...
Thanks...

Salt water is not attractive, but it is very good to avoid decomposition, and specimens are easy to prepare, also after several months. You can use salt water alone in pitfall traps, or combine it with bait.
Use 50-100 g salt per 1000 g water.

Winegar is very good to attract some species, and to preserve them, too. If you leave traps for a very long time, it's better to add salt to winegar.

You can find more information in this section of the Forum.

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Maurizio Gigli
http://utenti.romascuola.net/bups
http://bup.xoom.it/

Before preparing specimens preserved in salt water, put them few minutes in pure water, otherwise small crystals of salt will grow on the specimen while it is drying.

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Maurizio Gigli
http://utenti.romascuola.net/bups
http://bup.xoom.it/

Thanks Maurizio for your sggestions... I will try them this year..

hi ozgur

apple vinegar, instead of normal wine vinegar, proved more effective for different kinds of beetles and other insects... even so, for a better conservation add salt to the liquid

note that insects caught with such traps are better prepared glued on labels, not pinned; even weak traces of salty winegar remaining inside will attack and destroy the metal of the pin within relatively few time

p.s. for long time staying traps, i usually use salt enough, that part of it remains undissolved

p.p.s. for special cases of "difficult" targets, a component of antifreeze fluid, the propylene glycol (1:3 dilution), may prove highly effective

NOTE: DON'T USE ethylene glycol, it's effective as well, yet it's very dangerous to manipulate (for humans, epatotoxic and possibly cause of liver cancer) and highly toxic to most organisms and harmful to environment (when traps are collected, the fluid is usually spilled on the ground; moreover, traps are not unlikely to be found by small to medium-sized mammals, and their content eaten)

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maurizio

Hi ,
I use a liquid for kill and conservation with alkool 60% acid acetyic 15% and 5% Glycerin and the rest with water.
You can let your beetles in this one a long time.
For traps it's not a problem because Acid acetic is very good

But Alchool and acid acetyic get vapour so fast.. For a long term trap I think they are not so suitable.

You are right, Ozgur, but I presume that Bryaxis is meaning that he stores the killed insects in vials with a solution composed of alchool 60%, acetic acid 15% and Glycerin 5%, plus water.
Alchool is not suitable for long term traps due to its volatility.

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Maurizio Bollino

Oh bella per un attimo mi son perso...ho provato con un traduttore online...ma meglio lasciar perdere....alla fine mi sembra di aver capito che cerchi cosa mettere nelle trappole...ma non ho capito cosa vorrebbe prendere...

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Tc70