Modular, field-ready Malaise trap for efficient insect sampling

This Townes-style ez-Malaise trap is a modular flight-intercept device for passive insect sampling.  A central mesh panel intercepts flying insects such as Diptera and Hymenoptera and guides them upward into a collection bottle without bait.  The shock-corded pole frame enables rapid deployment in locations without trees and requires a minimum of two guy ropes for stability.  Major components are replaceable, making the trap suitable for both long-term monitoring and short-term, relocatable surveys.

Detailed Description

A Malaise trap is a vertical barrier that flying insects collide with; many then move upward toward light and are guided into a collection bottle.  Because the method is unbaited, catch rates depend on placement, making ease of deployment crucial for standardized study design.  In routine surveys, the trap serves as ecological monitoring equipment and as general insect-collecting gear for aerial arthropods.

The ez-Malaise trap maintains the traditional Townes-style design while incorporating field-friendly innovations.  It provides an effective and reliable tool for sampling active, sub-canopy flying insects such as Diptera and Hymenoptera.

Functional Advantages

• Modular design: Major components (collection head, fabric body, tall-end pole, and short-end pole) are individually replaceable, reducing downtime and extending service life.
• Shock-corded pole framework: Clips secure the fabric to poles for setup in minutes.  Nearly freestanding; requires a minimum of two guy ropes, with more recommended in windy conditions.
• Rapid deployment: Lightweight, portable design allows quick repositioning for multi-site surveys with minimal hardware, reducing field time and standardizing trap-days.
• Dual mounting options: Can be used with its pole frame or suspended from trees and other supports via built-in loops.

Field Notes

• Placement: Position along trails, forest edges, or stream corridors; orient the central panel roughly perpendicular to expected insect flight paths.

• Clear entry: Keep approach paths free of obstructions.  Moderate shade reduces evaporation in warm weather.

• Servicing: Service collection bottles on a regular schedule (e.g., weekly), adjusting for temperature and catch volume.  Re-tension lines after strong wind or a heavy catch.

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

• Hot/dry conditions: Monitor preservative level and top up as needed to prevent specimen desiccation.

• Multiple traps: Space units 50–150 m apart to minimize spatial dependence.  Record effort in trap-days and monitor covariates such as weather, vegetation structure, and edge distance.

• Orientation studies: If orientation bias or flight direction is under study, use the dual-head ez-Migration trap to collect both directions separately.

• Canopy sampling: For canopy or multi-layer sampling, use the SLAM (Sea, Land, and Air Malaise) trap.  It is freestanding, can be suspended at canopy heights, and can be daisy-chained to sample ground-to-canopy strata.

Pack Contents

• 1 × Fabric Trap Body
• 1 × Shock-corded Pole (L309 cm)
• 1 × Shock-corded Pole (L459 cm)
• 1 × Collection Head (pre-installed)
• 3 × Collection Bottles (1 pre-installed)
• 9 × Guy Ropes
• 9 × 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.