24 September 2022 was a calm and sunny day in Harray, West Mainland, Orkney (HY310197). I had had some success in the previous week using water traps for Ichneumonidae and thought that the conditions that day would be conducive to trapping further specimens. The water traps I deploy are ordinary washing-up bowls. I use a bright yellow bowl, which mostly attracts nectar seeking insects and a black bowl which often attracts Coleoptera. The washing-up bowls are a quarter filled with water with a few drops of washing-up liquid added to break the surface tension. The traps are placed on the edge of rough grassland, near a small vegetable garden which includes various Brassicaceae. There is a small field of “birdcrop” about 300 m south-east of the trap site where Brassicaceae species are a significant proportion of the plants grown.
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