How bright is your bulb? (1 Viewer)

[Imace]

I want to make a moth trap for my garden. I have sat out in the garden in the summer and moths have been attracted to a candle light. Why when i read the threads on here the norm seems to be to have a 80w or 125w bulbs. Are these sort of bulbs over the top or am i missing something. PLease can someone give me advice on the basics and cheapest way of moth trapping and not who has the brightest bulb or the most expensive trap.
Thanks
Ian

 

[MikeWall]

The Anglian lepidopterist supplies website www.angleps.com has a good guide to moth trapping. What's being discussed here are mercury vapour lamps which while being very bright visibly are primarily used as they output in the UV-A part of the spectrum, which has found to be the best attractant for moths. While a candle will attract one or two moths, if one wants a good return, this type of light is generally the one to use. It's not a question of 'my bulb is brighter than yours' as you seem to imply! In fact, there's some proof that the brighter the light, the less an attractant it is, depending on species, and it is certainly a case of diminishing returns. Many species will actively avoid bright lights.

Mike

 

[Brian Stone]

And depending on where you are. A 15W actinic will do fine in a small garden but if you are trying to attract in migrants at the coast then perhaps the bigger the better (e.g. Mark Tunmore's 250W with reflectors on the Lizard or even the 400W affairs out there). With brighter lights the moths tend to land some way away from the bulb I think.

Some of my most exciting records have come from my 15W actinic but the 125W MV has definitely had a greater variety and greater numbers.

The ALS guide is recomended.

 

[Jos Stratford]

The Anglian lepidopterist supplies website www.angleps.co.uk has a good guide to moth trapping.

The link does not work, nor if manually typed.

 

[delia todd]

The link does not work, nor if manually typed.

Try this

http://www.angleps.com/

D

 

[Brian Stone]

Direct link:
http://www.angleps.com/moth_guid.pdf

A good bulb for a garden if you don't want a bright light is the 40W actinic supplied by Paul Batty. Bulb and electrics for £35.95:
http://www.pwbelg.clara.net/mercury/actinics/index.html

I know a few using this successfully.

 

[MikeWall]

Apologies, didn't check - thought it would be .co.uk not .com - for ease of future reference I've modified my post

M

 

[Imace]

Excellent advice many thanks. By the way Mike nice site and i wasn't trying to be offensive with my remark about the bulb, I was asking why so bright. I have found this site to help with the build http://www.atropos.info/ then click garden moths.. Can you tell me why on all the traps i see they seem to use Perspex and not a reflecting say white card for instance. When i see them on the TV nature programs they use a white sheet etc.

 

[Surreybirder]

I have a trap from Paul Batty that has an opaque plastic top... the only disadvantage is that you cannot see what moths are in the trap, so you can miss something exciting by lifting off the lid and it flying off before you realise it is there. (That's on a 25 watt actinic, by the way, which catches very little compared with the 80W MV that I normally use - but it does tend to attract more old ladies and red underwings than the brighter trap, as Brian indicated.) http://www.pwbelg.clara.net/mercury/gladiator/index.html
Ken

 

[Imace]

Don't you look at that Gladiator trap picture and think to yourself that is a £2.99 B&Q plastic box with a large hole cut in it. Surely that is not hard to make for a lot less than £60 + p&p. Can you tell me why the type of expensive bulbs mentioned and not a household 100w bulb. Are the household bulbs harmful to the moth? what about the modern halogen or LCD light they are really bright i use them for fishing in my headlight.

 

[Surreybirder]

Don't you look at that Gladiator trap picture and think to yourself that is a £2.99 B&Q plastic box with a large hole cut in it. Surely that is not hard to make for a lot less than £60 + p&p. Can you tell me why the type of expensive bulbs mentioned and not a household 100w bulb. Are the household bulbs harmful to the moth? what about the modern halogen or LCD light they are really bright i use them for fishing in my headlight.

Not much UV light in the average household bulb, Imace. I believe that you can get UV LCD lights but I don't know anything about them.
I use a 25W straight tube with veins and a rain shield (built by Paul Batty). You can buy the electrics from him and build your own trap
http://www.pwbelg.clara.net/mercury/index.html
(Wouldn't a 100W household bulb crack in rain?)
Ken

 

[Imace]

Sorry Ken. So its the UV part of the bukb that the moth is attracted to not just the fact that they see a bright light in the distance. Sorry for my stupidity but i have no knowlege of moths only what i have read.

 

[Brian Stone]

Yes, it's the UV.

And yes, it is a B&Q plastic box. That's how I made my trap. I cut a hole in the lid of a plastic box and rest a lampshade upside down in the hole. I have a 15W actinic kit and a 125W MV kit which can sit on the box. Cheap and effective. There are pictures on this forum somewhere I think.

 

[MikeWall]

Sorry Ken. So its the UV part of the bukb that the moth is attracted to not just the fact that they see a bright light in the distance. Sorry for my stupidity but i have no knowlege of moths only what i have read.

That's what I said in my original post. Moths will be attracted to bright lights (e.g. even candles) that emit in the visible spectrum but the main attractant is UV.

 

[Corax67]

My last trap contained a 25W UV marine aquarium striplight with appropriate fittings - couple of advantages in that the fittings are designed to be watertight(ish), the lamps run relatively cool compared to a filamen bulb, they are cheap (around £8-£12) and surprisingly robust.

Only a thought but I am just getting together the bits for my new moth trap and will be oing down the same route so will let you know how it goes.

 

[Imace]

I have been out today looking at Verberium UV strip lights. They seem to be a route to try. THanks Corvus

 

[mothman]

Excellent advice many thanks. By the way Mike nice site and i wasn't trying to be offensive with my remark about the bulb, I was asking why so bright. I have found this site to help with the build http://www.atropos.info/ then click garden moths.. Can you tell me why on all the traps i see they seem to use Perspex and not a reflecting say white card for instance. When i see them on the TV nature programs they use a white sheet etc.

Hi Imace

There are two different methods mentioned by you here.

On tv programmes (and most public moth nights)a lamp is shined onto a reflective material, the advantage being that the audience can see all the moths easily.The disadvantage to this method is that it can't be left all night as the moths quite often b***er off at the first opportunity or get eaten by birds the next morning.


The other method involves a 'lobster pot' type of trap that traps the moth within using a narrow mouthed cone
the advantage being that the moths stay safe until the observer comes along the next morning.

The transparent collar you mention allows the lamp to illuminate the inside of the trap fooling the moths into thinking it is daylight, being nocturnal creatures they soon settle down into daylight mode which involves finding a nook to hide in and keeping very still.