All-terrain, modular Malaise trap for canopy-to-ground insect sampling

The freestanding SLAM trap (Sea, Land, and Air Malaise Trap), also known as a canopy trap, is a modular, flight-intercept device that operates on land, in water, or by hanging in the air.  It quickly assembles with shock-corded poles, reduces orientation constraints with cross baffles, and allows for component-level replacement to minimize downtime.  The design is patented.

Detailed Description

Traditional Malaise traps can be time-consuming to erect properly, require large open areas, and rely on external supports.  The SLAM trap overcomes these challenges with a self-supporting frame of shock-corded poles and clip points, allowing quick deployment across various habitats.  Cross baffles collect from four sides, reducing dependence on wind direction and sun exposure for placement.

The trap's modular design allows the fabric body, collection head, and shock-corded poles to be replaced individually if lost or damaged.  Deployment options include aerial suspension for canopy access and daisy-chaining to achieve vertical stratification, ground interception, and aquatic use with a flotation frame for wetland sampling.  Attach an optional bottom collector to preserve insects (e.g., Coleoptera) that drop upon impact.

The inverted Y-shaped collection head is crafted from solid polycarbonate (PC), offering durability, UV resistance, and high transparency.  Ventilation ports, which are closed by default, enable optional airflow, and some studies indicate that increased airflow can boost catch efficiency.  A removable moth excluder with a 1 × 1 cm grid limits larger insects (such as Lepidoptera) from entering and helps prevent wing-scale contamination.  Place the head on the crossed supporting poles instead of hanging free on the fabric body to ensure proper alignment.

Removable Moth Excluder

Collection Head Placement

Functional Advantages

• Four-sided interception: Cross baffles collect insects from all directions, reducing orientation bias and simplifying placement decisions.
• Freestanding Architecture: Clip to quickly secure the fabric to the cross shock-corded frame.  Additional support is only needed in windy conditions.
• Modular design: Fabric body, collection head, and poles are individually replaceable, extending service life and reducing downtime.
• Collection heads: Durable polycarbonate with optional airflow vents and removable moth excluders to reduce contamination.
• Multi-mode deployment: Operates on land, suspended in air, or on water with a flotation frame for wetland sampling.

Field Notes

• Placement: Position along trails, forest edges, stream corridors, or canopy gaps; set the trap on expected insect flight paths and keep approaches clear.
• Collection head: Seat the head on the top junction of the supporting poles; do not let it hang freely.  Keep the intake upright and unobstructed, tie it securely, and recheck the seating after servicing the collection bottle.
• Preservative and labels: Use a preservative compatible with your analyses (e.g., ethanol for morphology/DNA).  On labels, include the trap ID, date/time, and preservative.
• Hot or dry conditions: Monitor preservative levels and top up as needed to prevent desiccation.
• Servicing: Check collection bottles regularly (e.g., weekly), adjusting for temperature and catch volume.
• Multiple traps: Space units 50–150 m apart to reduce spatial dependence for a single-trap setup.  For canopy-to-ground insect sampling, toss a rope over a tall branch and daisy-chain multiple SLAM traps.  Ensure traps are properly anchored to maintain stability.

ℹ︎ Disclaimer: Field Notes provide practical guidance and examples.  Actual procedures should be adapted to site conditions, study objectives, and institutional protocols.  Users are responsible for safe deployment and compliance with local regulations.

Pack Contents

• 1 × Fabric Trap Body
• 2 × Shock-corded Poles (L309 cm)
• 1 × Collection Head (pre-installed)
• 3 × Collection Bottles (1 pre-installed)
  alternative option

  Nalgene™ 2105-0016 wide-mouth bottles (Ø53 mm closure size; unavailable from this site) are compatible with the supplied bottles.

• 4 × Guy Ropes
• 5 × Alloy Pin Stakes
• 1 × Carrying Bag

Additional replacement parts are listed under the Parts tab.

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

• Assessing baseline stress physiology as an integrator of environmental quality in a wild avian population.  Madliger et al. (2015).  Biological Conservation, 192, 409–417.
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• Fly and wasp diversity responds to elements of the fire mosaic.  Brown & York (2017).  International Journal of Wildland Fire, 26(5), 434–443.
• Overview of Mitaraka survey: research frame, study site and field protocols.  Touroult et al. (2018).  Zoosystema, 40(1), 327–365.
• The pitfalls of biodiversity proxies across Amazonia.  Ritter et al. (2019).  Scientific Reports, 9(1), 1–13.
• Practical field ecology: a project guide.  Wheater et al. (2020).  John Wiley & Sons.
• Standards and best practices for monitoring and benchmarking insects.  Montgomery et al. (2021).  Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 8, 579193.
• Measuring the impact of conservation: the growing importance of monitoring fauna, flora and funga.  Stephenson et al. (2022).  Diversity, 14(10), 824.
• Differentiating effects of organic management, pesticide reduction, and landscape diversification for arthropod conservation in viticulture.  Kaczmarek et al. (2023).  Biodiversity and Conservation.
• Arthropod traits as proxies for abundance trends in the Azores.  Oyarzabal et al. (2024).  Ecography, 12, e07457.