avoiding infections in rearing programs

[Robert Dana]

I have found that inserting shoots of the foodplant into the little "aqua-pics" that florists use keeps the plant material fresh longer while avoiding the need to maintain high humidity. The snug fit of the stem through the rubber (vinyl) cap also prevents larvae from crawling down into the water and drowning. Aqua-pics (they may have other commercial names) are readily available at florist supply companies.

Robert Dana, Ph.D.
MN DNR
Natural Heritage and Nongame Research Program
651 297-2367
Email: robert.dana at dnr.state.mn.us

>>> "Cris Guppy & Aud Fischer" <cguppy at quesnelbc.com> 1/26/00 9:23:28 PM >>>
The most common reason for disease when rearing is high humidity. This is
tendancy is greatest for species that are adapted to low humidity habitats.
Since you were providing grass at 2-3 day intervals, presumably you were
rearing in sealed jars at high humidity to maintain the freshness of the
grass. Keeping your cultures disease free at high humidity will be
difficult, given that the grass is unlikely to be sterile unless grown in
sterile lab conditions. You will have to assess which is more feasible -
maintaining a sterile culture or providing a low humidity environment.
During my Masters thesis project I lost my entire 500 Parnassius larvae due
to high humidity rearing.

-----Original Message-----
From: Koen.Berwaerts <berwaert at uia.ua.ac.be>
To: leps-l at lists.yale.edu <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
Date: January 26, 2000 1:32 AM
Subject: avoiding infections in rearing programs