Relative Abundance of Day-Flying Insects in Treefall Gaps vs Shaded Understory in a Neotropical Forest

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Abstract
Day-flying insects were sampled in treefall gaps and closed understory within the semideciduous, lowland forest of Barro Colorado Island, Panama, from April ( late dry season) to August (mid wet season) in 1980. Transparent strips of plastic coated with tanglefoot were suspended above ground at 5 treefall and 5 understory sites. Traps were "run" from early morning to late afternoon for 4-day periods at approximately 2-wk intervals. For most taxa, the numbers of individuals captured were relatively low during the first sampling period (prior to the onset of heavy rains), increased to peak levels between mid-May and mid-June, and then declined slightly in July and August. Statistically significant differences in abundance between gap and understory sites were noted only for Formicidae, Coleoptera, and Psocoperta. In all 3 cases greater numbers of individuals were trapped at understory sites. Size frequency distributions were similar between treefall gaps and understory for all taxa.