Global Malaise Trap Project and LIFEPLAN Malaise sampling v2

Lifeplan is a global biodiversity monitoring project with the aim of assessing the current state of biodiversity worldwide, and using this knowledge to generate predictions of how biodiversity might look in the future. In this protocol we describe the materials and method used to sample flying insects with a Malaise trap for the Global Malaise Trap Project and the LIFEPLAN project on a global scale and in a wide variety of environmental conditions and habitats. The aim is to identify species in further analysis (e.g. image recognition, DNA sequencing) and create species lists for different locations across the globe. This protocol contains a detailed description from setup of the Malaise traps in the field to weekly data collection, as well as steps to reduce ethanol in the samples and collect necessary information to help in species identification. We identify the equipment used in Lifeplan, but also give technical specifications of that equipment so that other users of this protocol can find equivalent alternative equipment. We also specify what metadata should be collected with the Malaise trap data. The technical solution we use to collect metadata in the Lifeplan project is described in detail in the full Lifeplan protocol. It is critical that we employ standardized operating procedures for the Malaise trapping. Our coordinated efforts will ensure specimen preservation for sequence analysis and high data quality, permitting the comparison of sites at a global scale. For global standardization with the BIOSCANinitiative, of which LIFEPLAN is a part. LIFEPLAN is based on bulk processing (metabarcoding) of samples and automatic image recognition which are outside of the scope of this protocol and will be described elsewhere.