The Abundance of Insects and Their Affinity to Variant Coloured Pan Traps at York University

Data for this experiment was collected on September 28th 2015 at approximately 3:00 pm on the grasslands and woodlot at York University, Keele campus. The site conditions were cloudy with slight wind gusts, and a temperature of 17°C. Both habitats were damp to due rain occuring a few hours prior. The group collecting the data consisted of Aziza, Paula, Sahar and Shahana. The purpose of this experiment was to apply various sampling techniques using tools such as pan traps to estimate insect populations. A total of 18 pan traps filled of soapy water were used, where nine were placed in undisturbed grasslands and the other nine were placed in the woodlot. The pan traps consisted of three different colours, blue, white and yellow. The nine pan traps in both habitats were set up in groups of three, one of each colour was represented in each group. The groups were separated randomly using a distance method in which from a particular point in each habitat, the researchers took twenty steps in various directions and set up the pan traps. This particular dataset also examined the attractiveness of each coloured pan trap to the insects. Once the pan traps were set up, the researchers waited one hour before returning to investigate. After the duration of one hour, the number of insects captured in each pan trap was counted. Additionally, the number and variety of recognizable taxonomic units (RTUs) were recorded. All RTUs were identified by recognizable characteristics regarding colour, size, shape, and wings. Pan traps with soapy water, tweezers and seives were the instruments used to count and identify the insects. The data showed that on average, there was both more variety and abundance of insects found in the grasslands as opposed to the woodlot. Furthermore, there were more insects found in yellow pan traps compared to blue or white pan traps. The recognizable taxonomic units identified in this experiment were ants, beetles, flies, crickets, spiders and mosquitoes.