Which is better at attracting insects, blacklights or MV lights?

Same thing

UV lights and black lights are different names for the same thing. You need something for the bugs to land on or be knocked into a trap (if you wish to collect them) as they circle the light. A hung white sheet nearby is good for the former. Bioquip sells a bucket trap for the latter.

One more thing to consider is that the more powerful the light source is, the more bugs you will attract. A old-style 400 W mercury vapor street lamp is the best. You can get them in black if you have neighbors that will be bothered, but clear is fine too. Mercury vapor lamps emits lots of UV in addition to visible, and that's what matters. Here is my setup for more detail:

… Edward L. Ruden, 23 August, 2020 - 11:55am

I actually meant MV lights... sorry

… BugIdentifier, 23 August, 2020 - 2:55pm

Like I said, a 400 W ballasted MV is best. You'd need a dozen or so full length black light fluorescent tubes to equal that power. Getting a ballast set up is more work, though. If you want to compare other MV bulbs, like a 100 W self-ballasted MV, then you need to research the relative efficiency of UV power vs. wall plug power for both options. Self-ballasting isn't very efficient. MV has the additional advantage that bugs are attracted to visible light too, just not as much and it depends on species.

… Edward L. Ruden, 23 August, 2020 - 3:32pm

So sorry to sidetrack this topic

I was thinking of trying a moth sheet setup to try to find some nocturnal hoppers after seeing that some specimens were found that way. Edward, I just checked out the photos you shared from your outings. I don't see any hoppers in your collections though. Did you not find any? Or maybe you weren't interested in those?

Apologies to BugIdentifier for the thread-jack :(

… Christine Carrington, 29 August, 2020 - 3:43pm

It’s ok.

Glad you got an answer!

… BugIdentifier, 1 September, 2020 - 12:18pm

Thanks!! Good luck with your

Thanks!! Good luck with your setup :D

… Christine Carrington, 1 September, 2020 - 6:37pm

Seach BG gatherings

Those are not among my main interests, but they do show up. The annual BG gatherings generally have MV events. To see what showed up for those, here is an advanced search of Cicadina posts with keyword gathering_2011. If the thumbnail has a white woven backdrop (bed sheet), it's from such an event. If it's plain white, though, it's just one of Mike Quinn's studio shots back at home base. Replace 2011 with 2012, etc. to search other years. All the posts from the gatherings are requested to have such a keyword.

… Edward L. Ruden, 29 August, 2020 - 4:52pm

That was really helpful, than

That was really helpful, thank you so much! Very enjoyable to browse through all those photos, and I found some new bucket list Hoppers ☺️

… Christine Carrington, 29 August, 2020 - 11:29pm