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Full Version: Product Review: Zoo Med Bug Napper
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pastorjosh

My wife and I moved out into the country (well, actually we are in a 10 house subdivision out in the middle of nowhere). Anyways, I was excited about the possibility of using field sweepings with my frogs.Then I came across this product from Zoo Med.

I was quite sceptical, but when an online store had it for under $30, I thought "why not". Well, it arrived today and I immediately put it to use (only setup involved unscrewing bug catcher portion and removing the cardboard protecting the lamp). The Bug Napper uses a compact florescent bulb that emits UVA to simulate the moon (which bugs use to navigate at night). The bugs fly around the light until they hit and fall into the funnel that empties into the bug holder compartment.

The funnel is big enough to catch some pretty big bugs, but it comes with two funnel adapters that make the hole smaller and smaller. I used both funnels so I didn't catch a bunch of big bugs.

My house has quite a few bugs in it during the evening (no AC, so windows (with screens) let in a lot of bugs at night), so I set it up in my kitchen and turned off the lights and turned on the bug napper. Within 2 seconds, it had already caught a bug! This bug however, kept flying around until it found the funnel hole and escaped. So, I added calcium powder to the bottom (about 3 pinches) and tried again.

Well, it has been running on my kitchen table for less than 2 hours (the instructions say to leave it on all night and collect in the morning) and I have 100+ bugs in the bottom. All but one are smaller than hydeii but a little larger than mels.

I'm not sure whether I will modify the funnel (it seems to be getting the right size bugs now).

One strong consideration would be the introduction of parasites, herbicides, insecticides, and such from these wild bugs. This could be a huge issue with suburban froggers whose neighbors use a bunch of junk on their lawns (the bug napper needs to be plugged in). The instruction manual continuously warns against this as well as feeding poisonous bugs to your herps.

Not all froggers agree on the use of wild caught insects, but if you are going to use wild caught bugs, this product shows some promise...so far...

Well, 95% of the bugs caught were dead within a few hours in the bug napper. There was one bigger bug (1/2" or smaller) that was still alive. Could he have trampled all the smaller bugs? I don't think it is heat from the light (the light doesn't produce that much heat and is well ventilated). Well, I'm washing the cup now and I'll try again on Sunday night (going canoeing this weekend). I'll keep you guys posted.

pastorjosh

I made the hole on the cone smaller (to restrict the size of insects) and it helped out tremendously. I catch probably 50-70 bugs (inside my house!) every night. There are some wild fruit flies, some beetles, and other small insects. I'll post a pic of my one of my catches sometime.

PGB

cool is it mains powered or battery? I might get one because here in NJ we are swarmed with bugs

pastorjosh

You have to plug it in.
This thing is cool and may be a good source of additional bugs overnight. Just remember to include a small wet piece of napkin or paper towel. A lot of trapped tiny insects will desiccate in a matter of hours.