The Malloch Society was formed in 1988 by a group of Scottish dipterists. The society is named in honour of John Russell Malloch (1875 - 1963) one of Scotland’s most eminent dipterists.
The aim of the society is to act as a voice for Diptera in Scotland, improving knowledge and awareness. Based in Scotland, we focussed originally on Scottish and British Diptera, but over the last 20 years we have developed projects in Europe and in other parts of the world.
Using a team-based approach the society has concentrated on building knowledge of the taxonomy, ecology and distributions of saproxylic Diptera (MacGowan 1993), the Brachycera of montane areas (Horsfield and MacGowan 1998) and the invertebrates of riversides and shingle banks (Rotheray and Robertson, 1993) and Phragmites reed beds (Watt et al., 1994). In particular we have developed techniques to assess the biodiversity, status and management requirements of rare and endangered species such as the syrphids Blera fallax (Linnaeus, 1758) and Hammerschmidtia ferruginea (Fallén, 1817) (MacGowan 2023), the empid Wiedemannia simplex (Loew) (MacGowan 2021) and the scathophagid Okeniella caudata (Zetterstedt, 1838) (MacGowan 2015).
The society organises an annual meeting with talks as well as extended field trips in Scotland (Solway Firth 2021, Nethybridge 2022 and 2025, Isle of Eigg 2023, Corrour 2024) and in European countries such as France (2003), Sweden (2003), Finland (2004, 2007), Spain and Italy (2024). Enquiries: mallochsociety@gmail.com
Malloch Society Research Reports
- No 1. The Entomological value of Aspen in the Scottish Highlands. Iain MacGowan, 1993. 23pp. (pdf)
- No 2. Insects from Shingle Banks and Riverside Habitats in Strathspey. Graham E. Rotheray and David Robertson. 1993. 31pp. (pdf)
- No 3. An assessment of the distribution and status of montane Brachycera (Diptera) in Scotland. David Horsfield and Iain MacGowan. 1998. 69pp. (pdf)
- No 4. John Russell Malloch (1875-1963), his early life and contribution to entomology in Scotland. E Geoffrey Hancock. 1998. 18pp. (pdf) and John Russell Malloch: Amateur Naturalist to Professional Taxonomist, E Geoffrey Hancock. 2018 29pp (pdf)
The Malloch Society has the opportunity to give small grants to individual entomologists, up to a maximum of £500 per applicant. This offer, the David Robertson Memorial Fund, is in memory of a founder member and former treasurer of the Society. It is intended for dipterological research relevant to the Scottish fly fauna and any application should complement the Society’s pioneering work on the Scottish fauna. Preference will be given to projects that would lead to the formal publication of results. A brief description (300 words) of the proposal should be sent to mallochsociety@gmail.com