Kamberg Nature Reserve Field Trip

by Mandisa Ndlovu

One of my responsibilities as the Entomology Research Technician is to assist the curator with field trips. In March 2021 I accompanied Dr Kirstin Williams on a Field trip to Kamberg Nature Reserve. It is one of the smallest of the KZN Wildlife resorts and lies in the foothills of the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park. The field trip was focused on collecting Tabanidae (horse flies) for a project Dr Williams is collaborating on with Dr Louwtjie Snyman from the Durban Natural Science Museum. We also collected insects for the expansion of our Entomology collection. The trip was a week long and consisted mainly of checking on the traps twice a day (mornings and afternoons) and pinning out the material that was caught in the traps. The type of traps we used were Malaise Traps, Manitoba Traps and Red Top Bait Traps. Some hand collecting was done as well where a hand net was needed. It rained and it was cold most of the week so it made it a bit challenging for trapping and collecting the insects as the ideal weather for collecting is sunshine but I consider the trip a success none the less because we did manage to get some Tabanidaes as well as other insects for our collection.