D3048: Assessing the performance of a 3D printed Pennsylvania-style black light moth trap

Monday, November 11, 2024

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM MST

Location: Phoenix Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 6, PCC

Presenting Author(s)

Christopher B. Brown (he/him/his)

PhD Student
Michigan State University
Lansing, Michigan

Co-Author(s)

PW

Peter JT White

Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan

Passive black light traps are a popular tool for sampling moths and other night-flying insects. Recent changes to the availability of professional grade traps has left a supply gap for entomologists and hobbyists. This gap can be filled using 3D printing technology. Here, we describe the design and performance of a 3D printed trap, similar to the popular Pennsylvania-style black light traps produced by the company BioQuip over the past half-century. Our 3D printed design is printed in four parts, is easily assembled, and is equipped with low wavelength LEDs, powered by a USB battery pack. We compared the performance of our 3D printed trap design to the traditional BioQuip traps over 10 trap-nights in a suburban woodlot in the summer of 2023. The trapping yields for the 3D printed trap were lower than those for the BioQuip trap but scaled to the approximate size-difference of the traps themselves. The 3D printed trap design is customizable, freely downloadable at www.pjtwhite.org, and can be printed to any size (depending on the limits of the 3D printer used). The 3D trap presents a viable lighter, modifiable, alternative to replace once commercially available black light traps for professionals and hobbyists alike.