Humor-driven charity helps researchers gather flies
Published: June 10, 2005
A rainy spring in Maine produced a bumper crop of black flies, which is good news for a Tempe laboratory that wants to study Maine’s black flies.
Spectrum Labs Inc., which conducts veterinary allergy testing and treatment, is seeking 50 to 100 grams of dead and dried black flies from Maine. That amount would provide about a year’s supply for the lab and its project.
The company wants to extract the protein element from the insects to put into its allergy treatments for animals, said Kelly Urban, Spectrum’s general manager.
It made an inquiry to the Maine Blackfly Breeders Association and the non-profit, humor-driven charity soon came to realize the request was no joke.
The Maine Blackfly Breeders Association, which breeds humor but no black flies, agreed to gather enough dead black flies for the company to carry out its research. In turn, the lab will make a financial donation to the group.
“Fifty grams is, like, 1.8 ounces. I don’t know how much one dead black fly weighs, so that’s a lot of dead black flies. Thousands and thousands,” said Holly Garner-Jackson of Whiting, Maine.
The group is enlisting help from anyone who has a Mosquito Magnet, starting immediately.
Mosquito Magnets stand 2 feet high in the field and weigh 30 to 35 pounds. They emit carbon dioxide to attract mosquitoes and other nuisance insects.
Catches from Mosquito Magnet bags will be collected by the group and sorted by hand to separate the black flies from the mosquitoes.
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