On a get-away to the Vineyard some years ago, I picked up a copy of Swedish naturalist Fredrik Sjöberg's book "The Fly Trap," and it is one of the best natural history books I've ever read. Sjöberg collects Syrphid flies and this book is full of his musings on life and insights on the world gained from his insect collecting experiences. It is woven around the story of the largely forgotten, early 20th century naturalist René Edmond Malaise who invented a trap still commonly used by fly collectors, the eponymous "malaise trap."
Reading it put me in mind of a malaise trap that as sat dormant in a cabinet at the Natural History Survey for years that I'd never used. How does it work? How hard is it to set up? Will it bring us entomological wonders? Only one way to find out . . . and you can come along for the ride!
31 июл 2023
