What is in a
Quest Kit?
- 1 Malaise trap – a tent-like structure that collects bugs
- Plastic bottles with some table salt – one for each week of collection (just add water to preserve DNA!)
- “Science in Progress” sign for your trap
- Labels for your bug bottles
- Instruction Manual
- Collection Log Sheet
- Materials for return shipping (including prepaid waybill)
*Additional educational materials may be included.
Let's get started by
Setting the Trap!
Once your insect trap has arrived, it’s time to figure out where to put it! Does your school have a garden or any wooded areas? Do you think it might be safer to put it in your teacher’s backyard? What different kinds of insects would you get in a field compared to under some trees? Remember, your trap should be exciting to tend to, not exhausting. Pick a spot that is easy to return to – then, set up your trap!
once a week it's time to
Maintain & Document
A Malaise trap is one of the lowest maintenance options for insect collection, but it does still require a little bit of effort. Once a week you’ll need to swap out the Quest bottle, which only takes a few minutes. Good science starts with simple notes, so it is important to document what is going on with the trap. It’s also wise to visit your trap every couple of days to make sure that it’s still standing, or that a spider hasn’t decided to move in and steal your bugs!
after that, what happens. . .
Back at the Lab?
After weeks of collecting, you will ship the Quest Bottles back to the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics (shipping costs covered by us).
Here, our expert Bug Handling Team prepares the insects for the lab. Then our DNA Team extracts DNA from your Quest bottles and uses DNA barcoding to identify the species present in each bottle.
What comes next?
Analyzing the Data
After the lab has generated the DNA barcodes, the next step is to interpret all of the information. It’ll take a little time for our experts to work their magic, but soon enough we’ll be ready to share what you’ve discovered on your BugQuest.