Pan Trap Sampling Method

This lab was done in the Danby Woods at York University on Tuesday, September 29, 2015. The experiment lasted from 2:45 to 5:00 pm. Data was collected from both the grassland and woodland area. The temperature was 18°C and it was lightly raining so the ground was wet and muddy with dark skies. Group members include Katie, Katherine, Adam, Ava and I. The pan trap experiment was placed first at the beginning of the lab and was the last to have the data collected. This was done to ensure that there would be time for insects to enter the bowls. There were 9 bowls for each the grassland and the woodland. The 9 bowls were placed into groups of 3 and each group had one of the 3 different coloured bowls: yellow, blue and white. This was done to see if colour was a factor in influencing insects to enter that bowl. Then the bowls were than filled with soapy water so that the insects that enter the bowls stay in. The groups of bowls were placed randomly in both the grassland and woodland. Within each group the bowls were place next to each other to ensure there was no bias because of location and position. Theses bowls were left sitting on the ground until near the end of the lab when data was collected from them. The number of insects, rtus and the type was recorded and as it was recorded the soapy water was poured out. The data showed that for the woodland there was only one insect caught for the entire area and for the grassland there were many insects caught. This variation was probably because it was raining during the experiment so many of the insects that were in the woodland were not able to climb into the bowls and were probably hiding in the trees and ground. However, for the grassland area the insects that were already climbing on the grass and leaves would have been able to climb into the bowls easily, since they would be at a higher elevation. Many of insects in the grassland area were very small to identify the species, therefore it was recorded as unknown insects. The rtus was the number of insects that could be recognized and identified for this experiment the only insects that were recognizable were ants, aphids and fly.