I recently did something I’d been putting off for many years: get myself a UV light and sheet set-up. On Friday, I camped out to give it a test run - it was a near-full moon, but still brought out a lot of bugs.
Everything went well with my set-up, but an issue I hadn’t thought about arose as I was ready to go to sleep -
How would I take this down if I didn’t want to wait until morning?
I don’t particularly like camping, and ideally would set-up in a local preserve (with permission of course) and then go home to bed. Getting a few hours of sleep then returning sounds like a pain in the butt lol
So..
anyone have experience clearing a sheet of insects? Would turning off my headlamp and giving the sheet some shakes do much of the trick?
edit: realized it might be rude to tease a light trap without a link to the observations!
Looks like a nice and easy setup, with classic sheet mothing pictures! Sadly, I have no experience with American species, otherwise I would have loved to ID a few of them. Just turning the lamp off and shaking the sheet is indeed all you need to do. It is best to do it both horizontally and sideways so that the insects don’t fall back on the sheet. You might want to watch your step around where the sheet was hanging as many insects may still be on the ground, and shake the sheet a few steps further away. Leaving the sheet until the next morning is usually not ideal because it gets moist in the dew. Also, never leave lamps and cables outside because of rain and dew (electricity and water do not mix). Happy mothing!
As someone who blacklights all the time, get a headlamp with a red setting. If you switch it to red you can see what you’re doing but the insects won’t swarm your face when you shake out the sheet. After shaking the sheet, go over it carefully for Scarab beetles and Halysidota moths (or your local equivalent), which usually stick to the sheet no matter how much you shake it. Those have to be plucked off manually. And of course walk away from where you’re cleaning up before shaking so the bugs aren’t where you’re walking, otherwise they’ll get stomped on as you’re putting things away.
If you leave it til morning, it also doubles as a bird feeder! About 30 minutes before dawn, I start seeing birds picking at the sheet, and by an hour after dawn it’s usually picked pretty clean. I’ve met people who leave their sheet up all night and then the next day tell me the moths all “flew away”… the wings on the ground and very fat birds suggest otherwise. 
Perfect, I was worried more of them would cling to the sheet. This sheet brought a couple Halysidota which I now realize I didn’t photograph, ha.
My sheet was perfectly clear in the morning, but it was quite windy. The bottom had come loose so the sheet was just waving in the breeze - good to know those cheap wooden clothespins are strong!
I always forget about the red light setting on my headlamp!
Thanks!
To keep the sheet from coming loose in the wind, find a small rock and tie it into each bottom corner of the sheet like this using a piece of twine, then put a tent stake through the twine hole. I’ve never had them pull out, even when the wind was strong enough to destroy the clothespins.
