Catches of bloodsucking blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) tell different stories depending on sampling method

Authors

• Björn Malmqvist
• Darius Strasevicius
• Peter Adler

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33338/ef.84383

Abstract

To compare different sampling techniques, blackflies were captured along six Swedish rivers in 2001 and 2002, using two fundamentally different methods: (1) daytime trapping with a vehicle-mounted net, and (2) exposure of CO2-baited traps. The methods were selectively different for different species of blackflies. Some species were caught relatively more frequently by vehicle trapping and others by CO2 trapping. Only rarely were species catches proportionally similar between the two methods.We suggest that the different catch success reflects differences in host-searching behaviour in the species present and that the sampling methods are complementary.