Black Light Trap

Black light traps are a large, non-frangible structure with a diameter of 3 m or less and a height of 0.5 m. The traps are capable of capturing different types of insects from a radius of 250m, hence many traps might be required at an airport. There are two kinds of Black Light Traps. The larger one is called Farrow's Light Trap with a diameter of 3 m and the smaller one is called Black Light Trap with a diameter of 1.75 m. The difference is, that the Farrow's Light Traps catch Grasshoppers along with other insects, whereas, a smaller Black Light Trap catch mainly non-grasshopper insects. 

The traps are made of a Fiber Reinforced Plastic tank with an inner non-stick coating and white paint. When operated at night, during the rainy season, one trap can capture large quantities of insects by morning. The concept is to deplete the insect food base and increase the difficulty of finding food so that the airport becomes unattractive to birds. 

72% of the bird strikes in India happen with insectivorous birds. Black Light Traps remove insect food bases every night and reduce the number of more than 35 species of insectivorous birds from airports. Some of the important birds of Indian Airports like the Black Kite, Brahminy Kite, Red-wattled Lapwing, Bee-eaters, Swifts and Swallows would be controlled. 

Operation

Black Light Traps turn on automatically at night and turn off at Sunrise. A flexible option for daily maintenance of the trap is also available. 

Components

(a) Black Light Trap - 1 unit

(b) Wire sieve to collect insects - 1 unit

(c)  Power station: (i) Solar panel 165 Watts - 2 units

                                          (ii) Invertor 1KV - 1 unit

                                          (iii) Battery 150 Ah - 1 unit

                                          (iv) Battery housing box -1 unit

                                          (v) Black bulb 125 Watts - 2 units

Airports could upgrade the intensity of light from 125 W to 400 W Black Bulb for capturing insects from a larger area.