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Updated: Sep 13, 2025

Low-Cost Automated Flight Intercept Trap for the Temporal Sub-Sampling of Flying Insects Attracted to Artificial Light at Night
Published on: December 29, 2021
A "Sconce" Trap for Sampling Egg Masses of Spotted Lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula
Sarah M Devine1,2, Everett G Booth1, Miriam F Cooperband1
1Forest Pest Methods Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine, Science and Technology, Buzzards Bay, MA 02360, USA.
Abstract:
Survey and detection of the spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (White), rely either on traps that exploit the insect's behavior as it navigates its environment, or on visual surveys of either its mobile life stages or egg masses. A recently described egg mass trap, coined the "lampshade" trap, can assist with early detection in newly infested areas, provide egg masses for researchers, and potentially facilitate spotted lanternfly population reduction by removal of egg masses from the environment. Here, we describe a modified lampshade trap, the sconce trap, that uses less material, can be pre-cut prior to deployment, and can be deployed by one person, representing potential cost, labor, and time savings. Both traps were comparable at detecting populations of spotted lanternflies, and while females deposited more eggs on the larger lampshade traps, they deposited more eggs on sconce traps as a function of trap area.

