How to make a light trap for asian beetles?

Do you ever feel like your home has been invaded by little aliens from another land? Do you wake up every morning to find perfectly good window sills and porch furniture littered with the corpses of these invaders? Fear not, my friend! You are not alone in this battle. This article will show you how to create a DIY light trap that can help capture and remove those pesky Asian beetles.

Understanding the Enemy

Before we get into our ultimate weapon against these intruders, let’s take a moment to understand what we’re dealing with here. The Asian beetle, also known as the harlequin ladybird or Halloween ladybug (because they always seem to show up around spooky times), is actually an invasive species native to eastern Asia. They were first introduced in the US back in 1916 as a biological control agent for aphids on crops, but it wasn’t until the 1990s that they really became a widespread nuisance.

While they may look cute and harmless enough with their bright colors ranging from orange-red to yellow-brown with black spots (think miniature candy corns), these beetles are notorious for invading homes and buildings during autumn when they start seeking shelter indoors from colder weather outside. Once inside your house, they tend to congregate near windowsills where sunlight illuminates them better or warm areas such as lampshades.

Building Your Own Light Trap

The concept behind this DIY light trap is quite simple: By using natural attraction techniques combined with man-made baiting methods, we can entice these bugs into thinking there’s an even cosier spot inside our traps compared to our beloved living spaces. Here’s everything you’ll need:

Materials

  • A plastic container
  • Two LED lights
  • Electrical wire
  • Lure scent (optional)
  • Duct tape
  • A sharp knife

Step 1: Prep the Container

Start by drilling a small hole on each side of your plastic container, about halfway up from the bottom. You’ll want to make sure that these holes are large enough to fit the LED lights through them (which you will install next). You can also drill some additional tiny aerating openings at other places near those two main ones.

Step 2: Install LED Lights

Insert one of your LED lights into each of the holes you just drilled, placing them so they’re facing opposite directions inside the container (like they’re high fiving in there). Secure them with duct tape or any other waterproof adhesive tape.

Step 3: Make Electrical Connections

After inserting both LED bulbs into the respective receptacles and aligning wires, zip tie it down/secure using heat shrink tubing or equivalent material around bulb bases and wire outlets so that all bare copper is covered securely making electrical connections safe.

Step 4: Add Scent Lure (optional)

If available you can now add a scent lure to attract more Asian Beetles towards your trap’s vicinity.

Step 5- Cut an Exit Hole

Using a knife or scissors cut an exit point for beetles in lid/disc section where lid/fastening device attaches itself firmly over top opening which comprises most part of this light trap setup

With your homemade light trap assembled, place it near entry points where Asian beetles may be entering your home, such as windowsills or doors leading outdoors.

Conclusion

The DIY approach takes some time but provides us rewards like keeping harmful insects under control without using toxic chemicals. The beetles attracted towards our wonderful bee lamp can happily spend their last hours chirping away instead of bothering us indoors! So what are you waiting for? Gather up those materials and start building yours today!

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