Influence of the little-studied Sun's and Moon's characteristics on the trapping of night active insects in Central Europe, Australia and USA
CONTENTS, CONCLUSIONS
Contents
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL CHAPTER
Nowinszky L., Kiss M., Puskás J., Hill L., Barta A., Kiss O., Bürgés Gy.
CHAPTER 2 (CENTRAL EUROPE, HUNGARY)
Light-trap Catch of the Lepidoptera Species in Connection with the Sun's and Moon's Characteristics (Jermy-type Light-traps)
Nowinszky L., Kiss M., Puskás J., Barta A.
CHAPTER 3 (CENTRAL EUROPE, HUNGARY)
Light-trap Catch of the Coleoptera Species in Connection with the Sun's and Moon's Characteristics (Jermy-type Light-traps)
Puskás J., Kiss M., Nowinszky L., Bürgés Gy., Barta A.
CHAPTER 4 (CENTRAL EUROPE, HUNGARY)
Light-trap Catch of the Trichoptera Species in Connection with the Sun's and Moon's Characteristics (Jermy-type Light-traps)
Kiss O., Kiss M., Puskás J., Nowinszky L., Barta A.
CHAPTER 5 (CENTRAL EUROPE, SERBIA)
Light-trap Catch of the Lepidoptera Species in Connection with the Sun's and Moon's Characteristics (Becse-type Light-trap)
Kiss M., Nowinszky L., Puskás J., Barta A., † Mészáros Z.
CHAPTER 6 AUSTRALIA (TASMANIA)
Light-trap Catch of the Lepidoptera Species in Connection with the Sun's and Moon's Characteristics (160 W Mercury Vapour Light-trap)
Hill L., Nowinszky L., Kiss M., Puskás J., Barta A.
CHAPTER 7 USA (NEBRASKA AND NORTH CAROLINA)
Light-trap Catch of the Lepidoptera Species in Connection with the Sun's and Moon's Characteristics (BL Traps)
Nowinszky L., Puskás J., Kiss M., Barta A.
CHAPTER 8 (CENTRAL EUROPE, HUNGARY)
Pheromone Trap Catch of the Microlepidoptera Species in Connection with the Sun's and Moon's Characteristics
Puskás J., Nowinszky L., Kiss M., Barta A., † Barczikay G.
SUPPLEMENT
Light-trap types used in Hungary, Australia (Tasmania) and USA (Nebraska and North Carolina)
Conclusions
The results of our factor analysis studies show that some features of the Sun and the Moon influence light trapping of insect collection on all the three continents. The Polarization of the night sky is used by insects for their spatial orientation. Although the polarization of the Moon at night is higher than the polarization of the Sun, there is still a closer relationship between the polarization of the Sun and the efficiency of the light-trap than the Moon produces. Perhaps, the reason for this is that the polarization from the Sun changes much less dramatically from night to night than from the Moon. It therefore provides "more reliable" information for insects.
It is also proven that the gravitational potential of celestial bodies also influences the efficiency of trapping. In cases where the negative gravity value reaches -500 μJ/kg, the insect does not have to use energy to take off up to 0.051 mm, and the resulting gravitational potential is 0. Above this value, the energy required for take-off is reduced by 5% at l mm rise and 0.005% at 1 m rise as the suction effect occurs. In contrast, with the same positive gravity, when the gravity of the celestial body is added to the gravity of the Earth, it requires the same amount of energy to fly. We found that the neutral points of the sky that are above the horizon at night are also significantly related to the catch results.
Apart from our own studies, similar results have not been reported by other researchers.
The apparent illumination of the Moon and the phases of the Moon influenced the success of catch on every continent and in all groups of insects, although maximum and minimum catch appeared in different phases of the Moon.
The above mentioned characteristics influenced the efficiency of trapping on all the three continents and in all insect groups. however, other lunar features (illuminated surface ratio and moonlight) are not considered to be a widespread modifying factor, although we have not been able to justify their influence only on Australian migratory species. Although the influence of polarized moonlight has been proven by several researchers, our current investigation has only confirmed this in the case of the Australian Microlepidoptera and Macrolepidoptera species.
However, in our opinion, this may be due to the fact that polarized moonlight is not present in the full lunar month. Therefore, its significance lags behind the other characteristics and therefore it was not classified as a significant influencing factor by factor analysis.