In the framework of the project "VIETBIO" – Discovering the Vietnam biodiversity and training Vietnamese scientists in Germany for 03 years (2018-2020) funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research, Scientists from Germany (Natural History Museum Berlin and the Bavarian National Specimen Collection) and Vietnam (Vietnam National Museum of Nature) conducted a biodiversity research in the Bach Ma National Park, Thua Thien Hue Province, in May 2018. A number of Malaise traps were placed at the edge of the forest, gaps in the forest, forest trails in Bach Ma to collect insect samples for research.
The potential of employing Malaise traps for collecting butterflies and moths for morphological analysis and presents a protocol for preparing Macrolepidoptera from Malaise trap samples that were preserved in ethanol.
About 80 specimens of Lepidoptera, including Nymphalidae, Geometridae, Hesperiidae, Erebidae, Noctuidae, Pyralidae and Tortricidae, were mounted, following the protocol. All specimens with robust wings and contrasting wing patterns were well suited for the study of external morphology, regardless of the family.
The study offers new methodological approaches in an attempt to make the most of the material that was obtained using Malaise traps.
News: Vu Van Lien - The Vietnam National Museum of Nature
Photos: Dr. Olga Schmidt
Cited paper: Olga Schmidt, Stefan Schmidt, Christoph L. Häuser, Axel Hausmann, Lien Van Vu. 2019. Using Malaise traps for collecting Lepidoptera (Insecta), with notes on the preparation of Macrolepidoptera from ethanol. Biodiversity Data Journal 7: e32192; http://doi.org/ 10.3897/BDJ.7.e32192.
Figure 1. Larentiinae (Lepidoptera, Geometridae): male, wing venation (specimen originally preserved in 80% ethanol).
Figure 2. 'VIETBIO' Malaise trap sample: Lepidoptera larvae preserved in 80% ethanol
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Figure 3. Setting a butterfly (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae); A. taking the specimen out of the ethanol; B. drying the specimen on a piece of filter paper; C. moving left and right pairs of wings apart; D. setting the specimen using a spreading board; E. dried specimen, wings above; F. dried specimen, wings underneat.
Figure 4. Setting a larentiine moth (Lepidoptera, Geometridae); A.drying the specimen on a piece of filter paper; B-D. moving left and right pairs of wings apart; E. dried specimen, wings above; F. dried specimen, wings underneath.
Figure 5. Setting a larentiine moth (Lepidoptera, Geometridae); A. taking the specimen out of the ethanol; B.drying the specimen on a piece of filter paper; C.dried specimen, wings above; D. dried specimen, wings underneath.
Figure 6. Mounted Lepidoptera from Malaise trap samples (Bavaria, 2011); A-F. larger moths; G-H. smaller moths.
Figure 7. Mounted Lepidoptera from Malaise trap samples (Vietnam, 2018); A-F. larger moths; G-H. smaller moths.