How Insect Light and Bait Traps Work

Phototaxis, pheromones and why a trap that ignores insect behaviour catches nothing.

A trap that ignores insect behaviour catches nothing. Every format in the Kunda catalogue exploits one of three responses: phototaxis, chemical attraction, or a physical route the insect was taking anyway.

Phototaxis

Insects sense light through photoreceptors in their compound and simple eyes and orient towards a light source. Their visible range extends into short wavelengths the human eye cannot see, which is why a UV tube in a mosquito lamp looks dim to us and bright to the target. Black-light lamps and lantern traps are built on this response.

Chemical attraction

Antennae and other receptors pick up volatile chemicals in the air — sex pheromones and aggregation pheromones among them. Pheromone traps and bait traps work on this channel, which is more selective than light: a pheromone lure can target one species without emptying the surrounding beneficial population.

Colour

Insects discriminate colour as well as intensity, and the positive response to specific yellows and blues is what glue boards use. Colour is the cheapest attractant there is — it needs no power and no consumable lure.

Why this matters when you buy

Light traps belong indoors or in enclosed spaces, where the lamp is the brightest thing present
Bait and pheromone traps belong outdoors, where light cannot compete with the sky
Glue boards work in both, and double as monitoring
The shift in park and landscape maintenance away from chemical control is what has pushed trap-based control into mainstream municipal work

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