This project describes a multi-week activity for upper division undergraduate students to contribute to a long-term insect monitoring network. Through lecture-based material, students will learn about global insect declines, field monitoring and sampling techniques, and key characteristics to identify common insect orders. Students will then use the knowledge gained to sort and identify insects within Malaise trap samples collected during the growing season from at least two locations, one that is highly human-disturbed (e.g., agricultural field, lawn, urban park) and one that has a low human-footprint (“natural”). Students will work in teams over the course of three weeks to weigh, identify, and count the insects within the samples. Then students will enter their data into the class spreadsheet, visualize the data in at least one graph, and identify trends across all samples sorted by the class. This project is scalable across space and time, with the option to include more sampling locations within a year, as well as document trends across years (i.e., across classes).

• Kim Komatsu
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• Malaise Trap Project: Involving Undergraduate Students in Network Science v.1.0 - published 19 Aug 2024 in Teaching Materials