PEET - Austral Staphylinidae

Methods | Collecting Methods for Staphylinidae and other Staphylinoidea | Direct Collection Methods: Pyrethrin Fogging

Small scale pyrethrin fogging is a technique that incorporates a chemical spray to extract insects directly from particular substrates and can produce many staphylinoid species from a variety of families and subfamilies. It is a non-destructive technique, compared to substrate collection and dismantling/debarking rotten logs, which tend to disturb/destroy these microhabitats. For this method we target rotting wood, and are especially interested in finding logs with extensive fungal growth (both large fruiting bodies and abundant microfungi can produce many staphylinids). It is also very effective for collecting from mossy banks and boulders, accumulations of dead branches, and particularly from standing trees with sooty mould encrustations and sap flows.

When we find a suitable log we put a collecting sheet underneath or around the edge of it, and then spray the log with insecticide. Insects begin to fall almost immediately and staphylinids can sometimes keep falling for up to half an hour after the initial spray. Occasionally additional spraying will produce further specimens. For a collecting sheet we use a white cloth sheet about 1.5 X 2 m (half a bedsheet works well).

The chemical spray (readily available fast acting pyrethroid insecticide - flyspray) causes insects to become temporarily hyperactive and rapidly dislodge from hiding places to fall onto the sheet. We use rapid-knockdown pyrethroid insecticides because of the 1) induced hyperactivity and extended effectiveness, 2) low vertebrate toxicity, and 3) rapid breakdown after use (i.e., non-residual characteristics).

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