Black Light??

[Mister Michael]

Will blacklights make some mantid species glow like some scorpions? just curious..

 

[robo mantis]

yes that is how people find them in the southern states in like the desert

 

[Mister Michael]

If anyone could get a picture of that it would be awesome (glowing mantid)....if only i had a fricken camera......

 

[francisco]

Hello,

Mantids won't glow in the dark,sorry Michael and robo mantis.

FT

 

[Rick]

yes that is how people find them in the southern states in like the desert

Proof? Like francisco I have not heard of it myself.

 

[AFK]

um, no, only scorpions glow under blacklights. it's actually still a mystery how and why they do, but yeah, sorry.

 

[robo mantis]

on this guys website i think bugs in cyborspace he has dried insects and he has a mantis and it say we found it black lighting

 

[Christian]

Hi.

He meant light-trapping. Light traps use fluorescent or black light to attract insects, and mantids, at least winged ones, are well attracted by light traps. I also use this method sometimes to attract mantids.

Regards,

Christian

 

[robo mantis]

oh when i hatch my eggs next year i will do that to find some

 

[Mister Michael]

Does anyone have some pictures or a good description of a light trap?...Do you use a light and like a sheet...or is it like an actually trap?? cause I have a black light....somwhere...I'm just curious how you'd set it up or which methods have worked best..

 

[robo mantis]

yeah get a white bed sheet and hold the black light above it (some people rig it to stand up) and the sheet will glow and the bugs will fly or walk to the sheet

 

[yen_saw]

This setting attracted many flying insects at night, including Carolina mantis in Texas. the bright one at the top is vapor light, with fluorescent light next to vapor light on top or bottom. (the one on pic is at the bottom)

Or you can have the set up without vapor light like the one below. with flourescent light at the top which attracted more ground insects like beetles. My son is having fun picking up the bugs with a freind of mine.

 

[Mister Michael]

wow those are pretty cool thanks for the pics yen...I'll try that this spring

 

[yen_saw]

Yup I know it is just the beginning of winter but can't wait till next Spring already as i have been too busy last Summer to go out for bug hunt. However, early Spring is not a good time to catch mantis using this method as it is still cold and most mantis are still in nymph stage (Without wing). You have to wait till late summer on extremely hot night to get lucky. However, early Spring is good for hunting for nice species of moth like the Luna Moth (see below).

 

[Butterfly]

oh wow, I collect butterflies and moths and have always wanted to add a Luna moth to my collection. Nice find!

I am so gonna have to try this catching method!

 

[Shelbycsx]

Yen, thanks for the info and pics!!!! I never knew about that!! I'm deffinitely going to be creating a setup like that to see what comes up around here. Any tips or perhaps links to sites that show all the particulars on creating a "bug attractor"??? I'll do my best to google it, but obviously i don't know what to even call that contraption! Awesome work man:!:

 

[yen_saw]

Any tips or perhaps links to sites that show all the particulars on creating a "bug attractor"???

You can buy almost all the materials for this setup in Home Depot. Mercury vapor light can be found in this website which sale all kinds of supplies for an entomologist. Browse through the site and do a search to find all kinds of tips for setting up a bug trap too.

http://www.bioquip.com