Evaluating potential sources of variation in Chironomidae catch rates on sticky traps
Joshua T. Smith A B , Jeffrey D. Muehlbauer A and Theodore A. Kennedy AA US Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center, 2255 N Gemini Drive, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA.
B Corresponding author. Email: joshuasmith@fs.fed.us
Marine and Freshwater Research 67(12) 1987-1990 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF15189
Submitted: 14 May 2015 Accepted: 9 November 2015 Published: 7 January 2016
Abstract
Sticky traps are a convenient tool for assessing adult aquatic insect population dynamics, but there are many practical questions about how trap sampling artefacts may affect observed results. Utilising study sites on the Colorado River and two smaller streams in northern Arizona, USA, we evaluated whether catch rates and sex ratios of Chironomidae, a ubiquitous aquatic insect, were affected by spraying traps with insecticide, placing traps at different heights above ground, and placing traps at different locations within a terrestrial habitat patch. We also evaluated temporal variation in Chironomidae counts monthly over a 9-month growing season. We found no significant variation in catch rates or sex ratios between traps treated versus untreated with insecticide, nor between traps placed at the upstream or downstream end of a terrestrial habitat patch. Traps placed near ground level did have significantly higher catch rates than traps placed at 1.5 m, although sex ratios were similar across heights. Chironomidae abundance and sex ratios also varied from month-to-month and seemed to be related to climatic conditions. Our results inform future sticky trap studies by demonstrating that trap height, but not insecticide treatment or precise trap placement within a habitat patch, is an important source of variation influencing catch rates.
Additional keywords: Chironomidae, insecticide, sex ratio, spatial heterogeneity, sticky traps, trap height.
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