Applications for Nocturnal Studies of Insects

Abstract

Adults of the many pest and beneficial insect species that are active in the field at night exhibit altered behavior when they are exposed to the artificial light sources necessary if man is to observe their behavior. Therefore, knowledge about the nocturnal behavior of most species is extremely limited. We believe that a basic understanding of this nocturnal behavior is essential to the design and development of new or more effective and efficient technologies of population control or suppression. Therefore, the existence of equipment that will allow us to see at night without interfering with normal insect behavior is a matter of great importance. Such equipment is now available to the entomological community in the form of low light level, image intensifying devices such as night vision goggles (NVG).