Dual-headed design for flight direction studies

The ez-Migration trap—a two-headed Malaise trap—is a modular field-sampling tool that intercepts insects on both sides of a vertical barrier and directs them into separate bottles.  This design reduces orientation bias and supports studies of insect migration as well as local dispersal movements.

Detailed Description

Classical Malaise traps often show directional bias, with collection heads filling unevenly depending on sun position, wind direction, or insect flight path.  By placing a head at each end, the ez-Migration trap minimizes this effect and keeps samples from opposite flight directions separate, yielding clearer data on movement patterns.

Assembly mirrors that of the ez-Malaise trap: shock-corded poles connect in minutes, clips attach the fabric, and stability requires a minimum of two guy ropes.  Its portability makes it suitable for both long-term monitoring and quick surveys.

Functional Advantages

• Dual collection heads: Capture insects from both sides for directional analysis.
• Reduced orientation bias: Mitigates variation caused by sun position, wind direction, or insect flight path.
• Modular system: Allows individual components to be replaced without swapping the entire trap.
• Quick assembly: Shock-corded poles and clip attachments enable rapid field setup.
• Portable structure: Nearly freestanding; requires a minimum of two guy ropes for stability in open landscapes.

Field Notes

• Placement: Position the central barrier across insect movement corridors (trails, forest edges, riparian strips); orient roughly perpendicular to expected flight paths.  Avoid tight vegetation that blocks airflow.

• Directional metadata: Label the two collection heads consistently (e.g., Head A/Head B or compass bearings) and record orientation at setup for directional comparisons.

• Sun & wind: Note the sun position and wind direction during deployment and servicing.  Re-tension lines after strong wind or a heavy catch to maintain panel shape.

• Stability: Nearly freestanding; stability in open landscapes requires a minimum of two guy ropes, with additional ropes recommended in windy conditions.

• Servicing: Empty and replace bottles on a regular schedule (e.g., weekly), adjusting for temperature and catch volume.  Keep the head hardware seated and free of debris.

• Preservative & labels: Use a preservative suited to your workflow (e.g., ethanol for morphology/DNA).  Labels should include trap ID, head ID, date/time, preservative, and orientation notes.

• Multiple traps: Space units ~50–150 m apart to reduce spatial dependence.  Record effort in trap-days and note covariates (weather, vegetation structure, edge distance).

• Relocation: For short-term surveys, reposition as needed to sample across habitat edges or along movement axes, logging coordinates and orientations each move.

Pack Contents

• 1 × Fabric Trap Body
• 2 × Shock-corded Poles (L459 cm)
• 2 × Collection Heads (pre-installed)
• 6 × Collection Bottles (2 pre-installed)
• 10 × Guy Ropes
• 10 × Plastic X-Stakes
• 8 × Alloy Pin Stakes
• 1 × Carrying Bag

Recent Literature Related to This Product Line (click to search more)

• The Hemiptera (Insecta) of Canada: Constructing a Reference Library of DNA Barcodes.  Gwiazdowski et al. (2015).  PLoS One, 10(4), e0125635.
• DNA barcoding in diverse educational settings: five case studies.  Henter et al. (2016).  Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 371(1702), 20150340.
• The School Malaise Trap Program: coupling educational outreach with scientific discovery.  Steinke et al. (2017).  PLoS Biology, 15(4), e2001829.
• Arthropods in modern resins reveal if amber accurately recorded forest arthropod communities.  Solórzano Kraemer et al. (2018).  PNAS, 115(26), 6739–6744.
• Expedited assessment of terrestrial arthropod diversity by coupling Malaise traps with DNA barcoding.  deWaard et al. (2019).  Genome, 62(3), 85–95.
• Using DNA-barcoded Malaise trap samples to measure impact of a geothermal energy project on biodiversity.  Janzen et al. (2020).  Genome, 63(9), 407–436.
• A Review of Terrestrial and Canopy Malaise Traps.  Michael et al. (2021).  Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am., 114(1), 27–47.
• Peering into the Darkness: DNA Barcoding Reveals High Diversity of Unknown Diptera in Germany.  Chimeno et al. (2022).  Insects, 13(1), 82.
• Optimizing insect metabarcoding using replicated mock communities.  Iwaszkiewicz-Eggebrecht et al. (2023).  Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 14(4), 1130–1146.
• Global arthropod beta-diversity is structured by latitude in space and time.  Seymour et al. (2024).  Communications Biology, 7(1), 552.