That doesn’t really pass scrutiny. It’s not like they are mass collecting insects and it’s not like someone else is using insect traps to mass trap insects. As such there is practically no evolutionary pressure to adapt to not being caught in insect traps.
Let's take bug species Foo. We have two Foos. One has DNA trait Y the other DNA trait Z. Zs are more prone to be trapped. Ys are less.
Over time Zs die off. And Ys prevail. Therefore, over time the traps will capture less Foos.
You're (falsely?) thinking in terms of traditional evolution. But natural selection is not the same thing. I'm suggesting that - at least in theory - natural selection can be used to explain why they are catching less insects.
I read this as a direct attack, although the parent's argument is clear.
Let's say you trap 2 in 10k insects, which sounds high. If 50% of those insects had a slight evolutionary advantage against traps (which sounds a lot), that the two that did get caught didn't possess.
Great, they now have a 0.02% evolutionary advantage.
My point is: I assumed a lot of things, yet came up with a tiny advantage. I don't think (didn't compute) this is going to do much difference in the short term (although long term, it could have a bigger effect). So yeah, as in your argument, Zs die of, but very slowly, and there might be other greater pressures fighting against this.
Assuming the rates of my post, I'd be curious to see how much time it would take to achieve a meaningful difference in terms of population. (These catch rates are very high, and insects tend to reproduce quickly, so I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't much).
I'm sure there is math for exactly how much trait Y needs to benefit its host and for how many generations for trait to fix itself and dominate Z. Those traps are likely insignificant at population scales and even at local scales.
In theory I completely agree that insects traps could lead to evolution through natural selection. There is no disagreement here about it being possible.
All I’m saying is that insect traps are too rare to have any influence.
Insect traps are a rare sight for any one insect.