by mk



We were out for a walk today at a nearby park, and we came across this, which I found interesting.

Basically, it was a big piece of sticky paper, with lines breaking it up into quadrants. A small vial of yellow liquid was fixed to the middle of the trap. I imagine that this contained a pheromone that attracts elm bark beetles. I'm sure the quadrants are for counting.

This seemed a pretty successful trap. Funny, a spider was walking over the trap. He wasn't getting stuck, but he picked a beetle off of it for a snack. I wonder how much the spiders are messing up the count.

These beetles cause Dutch Elm disease.