Capture efficiency of pitfall traps is highly affected by sampling interval

Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata

Volumn 136, Issue 2, 2010, Pages 206-210

  Schirmel, Jens ^a   Lenze, Sarah ^b   Katzmann, Daniel ^b   Buchholz, Sascha ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GREIFSWALD   (Germany)

^b UNIVERSITY OF MÜNSTER   (Germany)

Author keywords

Araneae; Carabid beetles; Carabidae; Digging in effect; Field method; Methodology; Pitfall trapping; Sampling design; Spiders

Indexed keywords

BEETLE; BIOLOGICAL CONTROL; CAPTURE METHOD; FIELD METHOD; PITFALL TRAP; SPIDER;

ARANEAE; CARABIDAE; COLEOPTERA;

EID: 77956421001     PISSN: 00138703     EISSN: 15707458     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1570-7458.2010.01020.x     Document Type: Article

References (48)

1. Agosti D, Majer JD, Alonso LE, Schultz TR. Ants: Standard Methods for Measuring and Monitoring Biodiversity 2000, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, USA
2. Balogh J. Lebensgemeinschaften der Landtiere. Ihre Erforschung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der zoozönologischen Arbeitsmethoden 1958, Akademie-Verlag, Berlin, Germany
3. Barber H. Traps for cave-inhabiting insects. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 1931, 46:259-266.
4. Bombosch S. Untersuchungen über die Auswertbarkeit von Fallenfängen. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Zoologie 1962, 49:149-160.
5. Brennan KEC, Majer JD, Reygaert N. Determination of an optimal pitfall trap size for sampling spiders in a Western Australian Jarrah forest. Journal of Insect Conservation 1999, 3:297-307.
6. Borgelt A, New TR. Pitfall trapping for ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in mesic Australia: what is the Best Trapping Period? Journal of Insect Conservation 2006, 10:75-77.
7. Buchholz S, Hannig K. Do covers influence the capture efficiency of pitfall traps? European Journal of Entomology 2009, 106:667-671.
8. Buchholz S, Jess AM, Hertenstein F, Schirmel J. Effect of the colour of pitfall traps on their capture efficiency of carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae), spiders (Araneae) and other arthropods. European Journal of Entomology 2010, 107:277-280.
9. Crawley MJ. The R Book 2008, Wiley, Chichester, UK
10. Curtis D. Pitfalls in spider community studies (Arachnida, Araneae). Journal of Arachnology 1980, 8:271-280.
11. Desender K, Bosmans R. Ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) on set-aside fields in the Campine region and their importance for nature conservation in Flanders (Belgium). Biodiversity and Conservation 1998, 7:1485-1493.
12. Digweed SC, Currie CR, Cárcamo HA, Spence JR. Digging out the 'digging-in-effect' of pitfall traps: influences of depletion and disturbance on catches of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae). Pedobiologia 1995, 39:561-576.
13. Faasch H. Beobachtungen zur Biologie und zum Verhalten von Cicindela hybrida L. und Cicindela campestris L. und experimentelle Analyse ihres Beuteverhaltens. Zoologische Jahrbücher - Abteilung für Systematik, Ökologie und Geographie der Tiere 1968, 95:477-522.
14. Foelix RF. Biologie der Spinnen 1992, Thieme, Stuttgart, Germany
15. Gibson LA, New TR. Characterising insect diversity on Australia's remnant native grasslands: ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and beetles (Coleoptera) at Craigieburn Grasslands Reserve, Victoria. Journal of Insect Conservation 2007, 11:409-413.
16. Grandchamp AC, Niemelä JK, Kotze J. The effects of trampling on assemblages of ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in urban forests in Helsinki, Finland. Urban Ecosystems 2002, 4:321-332.
17. Greenslade PJM. Sampling ants with pitfall traps: digging-in effects. Insectes Sociaux 1973, 20:343-353.
18. Grell H. Die Flaschenfalle. Naturschutz und Landschaftsplanung 1997, 29:126-127.
19. Gurdebeke S, Maelfait JP. Pitfall trapping in population genetics studies: finding the right "solution". Journal of Arachnology 2002, 30:255-261.
20. Halsall NB, Wratten SD. The efficiency of pitfall trapping for polyphagous predatory Carabidae. Ecological Entomology 1988, 13:293-299.
21. Joosse ENG, Kapteijn JM. Activity-stimulating phenomena caused by field-disturbance in the use of pitfall traps. Oecologia 1968, 1:385-392.
22. Jud P, Schmidt-Entling M. Fluid type, dilution, and bitter agent influence spider preservation in pitfall traps. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 2008, 129:356-359.
23. Koivula M, Punttila P, Haila Y, Niemelä J. Leaf litter and the small-scale distribution of carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in the boreal forest. Ecography 1999, 22:424-435.
24. Lang A. The pitfalls of pitfalls: a comparison of pitfall trap catches and absolute density estimates of epigeal invertebrate predators in arable land. Journal of Pest Science 2000, 73:99-106.
25. Larsen KJ, Work TT, Purrington FF. Habitat use patterns by ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) of northeastern Iowa. Pedobiologia 2003, 47:288-299.
26. Lassau SA, Hochuli DF, Cassis G, Reid CAM. Effects of habitat complexity on forest beetle diversity: do functional groups respond consistently? Diversity and Distribution 2005, 11:73-82.
27. Lövei GL, Sunderland KD. Ecology and behaviour of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae). Annual Review of Entomology 1996, 41:231-256.
28. Luff ML. Some features influencing the efficiency of pitfall traps. Oecologia 1975, 19:345-357.
29. Melbourne BA. Bias in the effect of habitat structure on pitfall traps: an experimental evaluation. Australian Journal of Ecology 1999, 24:228-239.
30. Müller JK. Die Bedeutung der Fallenfang-Methode für die Lösung ökologischer Fragestellungen. Abteilung für Systematik, Ökologie und Geographie der Tiere 1984, 111:281-305.
31. Murl NRW. Klima-Atlas von Nordrhein-Westfalen 1989, ed, Private Publishing House, Düsseldorf, Germany
32. New TR. Invertebrate Surveys for Conservation 1998, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK
33. Pekár S. Differential effects of formaldehyde concentration and detergent on the catching efficiency of surface active arthropods by pitfall traps. Pedobiologia 2002, 46:539-547.
34. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing 2009, http://www.R-project.org, R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, Available at:
35. Santos SAP, Cabanas JE, Pereira JA. Abundance and diversity of soil arthropods in olive grove ecosystem (Portugal): effect of pitfall trap type. European Journal of Soil Biology 2007, 43:77-83.
36. Schlick-Steiner BC, Steiner FM, Moder K, Bruckner A, Fiedler K, Christian E. Assessing ant assemblages: pitfall-trapping versus nest counting (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Insectes Sociaux 2006, 53:274-281.
37. Schmidt MH, Clough Y, Schulz W, Westphalen A, Tscharntke T. Capture efficiency and preservation attributes of different fluids in pitfall traps. Journal of Arachnology 2006, 34:159-162.
38. Schuldt A, Fahrenholz N, Brauns M, Migge-Kleian S, Platner C, Schaefer M. Communities of ground-living spiders in deciduous forests: does tree species diversity matter? Biodiversity and Conservation 2008, 17:1267-1284.
39. Sjödin NE. Pollinator behavioural responses to grazing intensity. Biodiversity and Conservation 2007, 16:2103-2121.
40. Spence JR, Niemela JK. Sampling carabid assemblages with pitfall traps: the madness and the method. Canadian Entomologist 1994, 126:881-894.
41. Steiner FM, Schlick-Steiner BC, Moder K, Bruckner A, Christian E. Congruence of data from different trapping periods of ant pitfall catches (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology 2005, 46:105-116.
42. Sunderland KD, De Snoo GR, Dinter A, Hance T, Helenius J. Density estimation for invertebrate predators in agroecosystems. Arthropod Natural Enemies in Arable Land 1995, 133-164. Toft S, Riedel W,. ed. by, pp, Aarhus University Press, Aarhus, Denmark
43. Topping CJ, Luff ML. Three factors affecting the pitfall trap catch of linyphiid spiders (Araneae: Linyphiidae). Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 1995, 10:35-38.
44. Topping CJ, Sunderland KD. Limitations to the use of pitfall traps in ecological studies exemplified by a study of spiders in a field of winter wheat. Journal of Applied Ecology 1992, 29:485-491.
45. Uetz GW, Unzicker JD. Pitfall trapping in ecological studies of wandering spiders. Journal of Arachnology 1976, 3:101-111.
46. Vázquez DP, Aschero V, Stevani EL. Livestock grazing, habitat protection and diversity of bees and wasps in the Central Monte desert. Revista de la Sociedad Entomológica Argentina 2008, 67:1-10.
47. Waage BE. Trapping efficiency of carabid beetles in glass and plastic pitfall traps containing different solutions. Fauna Norvegica, Series B 1985, 32:33-36.
48. Ward DF, New TR, Yen AL. Effects of pitfall trap spacing on the abundance, richness and composition of invertebrate catches. Journal of Insect Conservation 2001, 5:47-53.