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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #309085
Title: Heteroptera attracted to butterfly traps baited with fish or shrimp carrion

Author
item EGER, J. - DOW AGRO SCIENCES
item BRAILOVSKY, H. - AUTONOMOUS NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MEXICO
item Henry, Thomas

Submitted to: Florida Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/7/2015
Publication Date: 12/5/2015
Citation: Eger, J.E., Brailovsky, H., Henry, T.J. 2015. Heteroptera attracted to butterfly traps baited with fish or shrimp carrion. Florida Entomologist. 98:1030-1035.

Interpretive Summary: The suborder Heteroptera, often called true bugs, includes numerous agriculturally important species. Many are serious crop pests, causing enormous economic losses in the United States annually, whereas others are largely predatory and beneficial, feeding on various coexisting arthropods, making them of considerable interest to researchers involved in biocontrol. In addition to plant and animal food, true bugs also may seek other nutrient-rich food sources. This paper provides review of the true bugs taken at carrion traps baited with fish and shrimp in five South American countries. During a period of several years, 1644 specimens, representing 91 species in 10 families were collected. Most of the species collected in these traps were not found using other methods, showing that bait-trap collections increased the number of taxa obtained and should be considered an additional tool for investigating biodiversity. This information will be of interest to a wide range of researchers, regulatory personnel, and Federal and state departments of agriculture working in insect pest management, biocontrol, and biodiversity studies.

Technical Abstract: Records of Heteroptera collected at butterfly traps baited with fish or shrimp carrion during collecting trips to Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru are presented. Traps consisted of a cylinder of net fabric (about 35 cm diam, 75 cm length) attached on the top and bottom to square pieces of wood slightly larger than the diameter of the cylinder. The bait usually consisted of locally available fish or shrimp that were cut into small pieces and placed in a container with water and a little soil and allowed to putrefy for several days to a week or more before use. The Heteroptera collected consisted of 91 species and 1644 specimens in the following families: Alydidae, Coreidae, Cyrtocoridae, Lygaeidae, Miridae, Pentatomidae, Reduviidae, Rhopalidae, Rhyparochromidae, and Scutelleridae. We collected 1281 males and 363 females at these traps, but most of the sex bias occurred in the Scutelleridae. In families other than Scutelleridae, there was actually a bias for females although bias for a particular sex tended to vary by family. Most of the species collected at these traps were not collected at the location using other collecting methods, so collecting at butterfly traps increased the number of taxa obtained at each location. Butterfly traps baited with fish or shrimp carrion should be considered as an additional collecting tool for biodiversity studies or general collecting.