Adaptation and modification of a collection bottle rotator foruse in pitfall trapping of ground-dwelling arthropods is described. A commercially available rotator unit was mounted to the underside of a disc cut from treated plywood as a supporting structure. During use the entire unit was suspended below ground level over a pit excavated into soil atthe collection site so that only the pitfall opening was visible when the plywood disc was covered with surface residue from the site. At the end of a study period, the unit must be uncovered to retrieve specimens and reinstalled in the excavated pit prior to the next collection period. In our application pitfall rotator units are used to study diurnal activity cycles of Carabidae in rotated corn and soybean cropping systems.
Keywords: Carabidae, sampling methods
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