Massey’s eco-friendly insect trap (similar to the one on the right that Bob has behind his own moth lab in Sanford, Fla.) will randomly attract night-flying insects to a walk-in screened cage. The special trap allows for the collection of a few bugs and the release of other insects during the day. Massey will be teaching interested Zoo employees how to run the trap, collect the samples, and then preserve and label the specimens to be of scientific value. Various other trapping methods will also be utilized throughout the year.

The Zoo will learn a great deal from this study about their local insect fauna and will begin to better understand insects, their food plants and adult flight periods. The published data will also likely spur similar studies and attract local and out-of-state scientists to the location.

Thanks Bob! We look forward to hearing more about this study as it progresses.

In a series of “Meet the Team” blog postings, we’ll introduce you to the professional and technical team behind the blogs here at Massey Services.

Bob Belmont – Bug Guy

Bob is a Pest Prevention Training & Technical Director for Massey Services. One of his many jobs at Massey is to provide identification of insects and arthropods for our customers when our team is unsure of the true identity of a pest.

Why would the experts at Massey ever be unsure? Well, very often customers will scotch tape samples of insect specimens to paper that end up squished or crushed. Imagine trying to identify a hundred tiny flattened bugs that are already the size of a pinhead. Well, that’s exactly the sort of thing that Bob enjoys!

Bob is an entomologist who received his B.S. degree in entomology from the University of California, Davis, and his Master’s Degree in Entomology from the University of Florida in Gainesville. He is also Board Certified through the Entomological Society of America, among holding many other professional appointments.

As part of his work at Massey, he trains technicians, provides quality assurance inspections at our Service Centers in Florida, Georgia and Louisiana, sets company treatment protocols, researches new pest management methods and troubleshoots some of the worst pest problems that the company encounters.

His personal hobby has been collecting and studying geometrid moths of America north of Mexico. He has an enormous collection and has made contributions to major national collections. He even discovered a new species of moth.

Bob has also created his own insect office at home, converting an expanded double car garage to a climate-controlled laboratory, chock with a lab floor, TAP insulation that is termite proof, insect proof and even fire proof. The lab also includes 50 feet of counter top, a double sink, a special closet with insect collection devices, a shadowless photography station and he even tests new products to understand their properties and activities before introducing them to Massey for field testing.

So you can see, when Bob talks or writes about insects, we tend to listen – since he really knows what he’s talking about! In fact, Bob was featured recently on the cover of October 2009 Florida’s Pest Pro magazine!