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Mothbox Working Group

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The Mothbox is a low-cost, automated, open source insect monitor designed to be lightweight and easy to deploy in the jungles of Panama. The Mothbox is accessible open science hardware that is helping researchers across the globe better understand insect biodiversity. Thanks to funding from WILDLABS, we are currently developing a mass-manufacturable version of the Mothbox that can be manufactured and distributed globally.

Photo of a Mothbox hanging from a tree in Panama
Photo of a Mothbox hanging from a tree in Panama. Attribution: Michael Johns

What the Mothbox project has accomplished so far

  • Created and refined 2 iterations of the Mothbox (currently using version 4.5)
  • Received OSHWA Certification
  • Ran community workshops with scientists and local communities across Panama
  • Successfully undertook a field expedition in Cerro Hoya, Panama, where we deployed 15 Mothboxes across a 1500m elevation gradient (and spent some time in the cloud forest!)
  • Over 140 deployments in Panama, the United States, Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico, with folks in the UK, US and New Zealand looking to deploy in the future.

What we're doing next

Our next step is to create a manufacturable Mothbox that anyone can make and sell with off-the-shelf parts. To do this, we are designing a new printed circuit board (PCB) that integrates most of the Mothboxes’ electronic components, which have required manual assembly in the past. This new design will reduce the amount of time spent on assembly, increase device operability, and even make Mothboxes more lightweight and cheaper! Furthermore, these changes will make it easier for us to mass-manufacture Mothboxes across the globe, and we’ll be partnering with the Open Science Shop (OSS) to help us create a distributed manufacturing network for Mothboxes.

We’ll also be supporting the inclusion of Mothboxes in more research projects across the globe, and plan to have Mothboxes on the ground in Indonesia and North Carolina later this year. We’ll continue to share updates on the Mothbox project’s progress through the Open Science Shop newsletter and the GOSH Forum.

Upcoming Meetings

  • We will have our first Mothbox - OSS meeting sometime in August. If you are interested in joining, you can sign up to receive notifications of meetings here!