A Simple & Inexpensive Do-It-Yourself Trap for Monitoring Adult Insects

A simple and inexpensive do-it-yourself trap was developed for monitoring the green June beetle, Cotinis nitida, using readily available isopropanol as bait and recycled polyethylene terephthalate beverage bottles. Despite its simplicity, the trap has been used by professionals for monitoring, habitat preference, and prediction of the mass emergence of the green June beetle. The trap and bait described in this paper also attract other insects, such as the flower scarab, Euphoria sepulcralis, the American carrion beetle, Necrophila americana, and the green lacewing, Chrysopa quadripunctata. The trap is inexpensive and easy to make, and it provides teachers, high school students, and citizen scientists with an excellent opportunity for field insect studies.