Standard Townes Style Malaise Trap

PRE-ORDER - Ships Spring 2025

The Townes-style Malaise trap is the industry-standard tool for sampling the biodiversity of flying insects, particularly flies (Diptera) and wasps (Hymenoptera). This version features a simple, reliable design that is easily set up using a central pole (not included) to support the collecting head and guy lines attached to stakes or nearby vegetation to keep the rest of the mesh structure taut.

Contents:

1x mesh Malaise trap

1x HDPE collecting head

2x 500mL sample bottles

10x guy line

8x tent pegs

1x carrying case

Description:

A tried and true classic, the standard Townes’ style Malaise trap has been the go-to insect trap for sampling flying insects since its inception in 1962. It was designed by the eminent ichneumonid wasp specialist Henry Townes. Townes improved the original Malaise trap design (invented in 1934 by René Malaise) by making it lighter weight, easier to set up, and highly efficient at collecting flying insects, particularly flies and wasps. Since its inception many, many researchers and hobbyists have relied on the Townes style Malaise trap.

This product follows the original Townes design with the exception of our improvement to the collecting head. Previous commercial Malaise traps often have a direct connection between the mesh tent and an upper bottle. This type of connection is problematic as the mesh near the bottle is liable to stretch and tear and the collecting heads themselves eventually deteriorate with constant UV exposure. Repairing these components is difficult and tedious. To avoid this problem, the Claridge Traps Townes-style Malaise trap uses a clear High-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic collecting head which is more durable and is inserted into a mesh entrance at the top of the trap so it can be easily replaced if necessary.

Like all Malaise traps, the Townes-style trap works by intercepting flying insects. In this case, insects are blocked from passing by the central panel which is made of a semi-transparent black mesh. Many insects are phototropic and will travel upwards into the preservative-filled collecting head. The collecting bottles usually need to be emptied and replaced approximately every week or two depending on the location, insect abundance, and evaporation of the preservative (usually ethanol). A well-placed Malaise traps can collect thousands of insects. The resulting samples will consist mainly of flies (Diptera) and wasps (Hymenoptera) but many other groups like beetles (Coleoptera), moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera), and true bugs (Hemiptera) will also be collected. The Malaise trap can also work as a bottom collecting flight intercept trap by placing pans at the bottom of the central panel. Doing so will collect weaker fliers like many beetles.