Moth Sheet - Portable Power recommendations

[bug_girl]

A light up tracing board. We have one that is battery operated and has a light surface 15-18 in.

[pisum]

you may want to check out
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/attracting-moths-with-a-blacklight-bulb-or-torch/8246
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/what-are-good-homemade-insect-traps/2357

regarding the UVB source, unless you’re relying on fluorescence, i wonder if that might be outside the range of light visible to moths?

@pisum

i read somewhere that insect vision starts to phase out around 550nm to 650nm (yellow to red) and ends on the other end at around 300nm. i use a 365nm light as my UV source, and it does seem to attract mostly small insects. if i add a white light (which should have a mix of other wavelengths), i attract other things. i’ve been thinking about getting a 395nm light, since i read somewhere that 400nm seems to be the best wavelength for attracting a wide range of insects.

@pisum

just note that the insects you attract at 400nm (ex. large moths) may be different than the insects you attract at 365nm (ex. flies). also note that if your shades are cloth, they may fluoresce and glow brightly (in the visible spectrum) when exposed to UV light

[kestrel]

I’ve used the 395nm set up that just runs on an external battery charger, here: https://calnature.org/blog/2017/9/27/diy-moth-light. Super-simple setup, and so far it’s attracted some fun moths as well as other insects. I haven’t yet tried it on a really warm summer night, but looking forward to it!

[colincroft]

These options look great…thanks for sharing! I think this LED UV lights is really the way to go for something ultra-portable. The setups described on the CalNature page here rely on 5volt DC power sources, which does limit you to either finding a 5V LED UV light or making one yourself. Another option is go with 12v rather than 5v. The main advantage to 12v is the greater variety of LED UV products out there running on 12v–designed for auto or even boat markets (UV/blacklight ‘fishing’). Some of these 12v LED UVs specify the nm/wavelength, some don’t. To power these, lots of options available, including smaller 12v wheelchair/scooter batteries in Lithium and Lead Acid versions; 12v chargers are inexpensive and widely available. I’m not sure how the life/number of charge cycles compares between these 12v and the 5v USB power supplies used for the CalNature setups though.

[hkmoths]

more info on the LepiLED can be found at https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/Nota-lepidopterologica_40_0087-0108.pdf

[upupa-epops]

We got this light and use little USB chargers my dad gets at business conferences to power it. Each one lasts a couple hours, I think this is the model. We didn’t get the light until late last summer and only got to try it a couple times. It didn’t bring in a ton of insects but I’m not sure if that’s the light or timing.