Abundance and Distribution of Flying Insects in a Woodlot and Grassland Habitat

On September 28, 2015, an experiment on the abundance and diversity of flying insects was conducted. The objective of this study was to determine the abundance and distribution of insects in a Grassland and Woodlot habitat. The experiment was conducted 3:00pm in the SayWell Woodlot and 4:00pm in the Stong Pond Grassland, located at York University. Temperature on that day was around 21 degrees Celsius with cloudy skies and a low humidity. The grasslands were slightly damp due to the rain that had occurred prior to conducting the experiment. For the woodlot, the field of study was 18 m long and was measured using a transect tape. Experimenters started with the woodlot and positioned eight pans of alternating colors (Yellow, White, Blue) in linear arrangement. The distance between the pans was approximately 3 m in length. After the pans were positioned, they were we filled up halfway with soapy water to attract and trap the insects. It was roughly 4:00 pm, and experimenters then proceeded to the grassland habitat. For the grassland, the field of study was 21m long and was measured using a transect tape. Experimenters positioned seven pans of alternating colors (Yellow, White, Blue) in linear arrangement. The distance was 3 m in length. After positioning the pans, they were filled up halfway with soapy water to attract and trap insects. It was roughly 4:30 pm when experimenters finished with the woodlot. The experimenters proceeded to the grassland habitat and checked on the pans placed. The number of insects trapped in the pans were counted and specified by the experimenters. The observations were recorded. Each insect’s name, type and taxonomic order were defined using the insect key provided in the lab manual. After the examination of the pans in the grassland, experimenters proceeded back to the woodlot roughly 4:45pm to count and specify the number of insects trapped in the pan. The experimenters recorded all observations found in both habitats. Common species that were found in each of the pan trap included: Spiders (Araneae), Beetles (Coleoptera), Flies (Diptera), Mosquitoes (Diptera), Ants (Hymenoptera), Wasps (Hymenoptera). Ron Kleiman and Mohamed Imrit helped with obtaining this raw data. Once the experiment was concluded, at around 5:00pm, the soapy water was emptied and the pans were collected.