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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #95128
Title: AN IMPROVED CART FOR HOLDING 32-CELL TRAYS USED IN MASS REARING LEPIDOPTEROUS INSECTS

Author
item Smith, Rebecca
item Nordlund, Donald

Submitted to: Journal of Entomological Sciences
Publication Type: Research Notes
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/26/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Large numbers of crop pests are often required for pesticide studies, host plant resistance studies, or production of microbials or parasitoids. One technique for rearing large numbers of moths such as the tobacco budworm, cotton bollworm, and beet armyworm involves the use of a form-fill-seal-machine. A form-fill-seal-machine forms a tray from PVC plastic, fills the tray with insect diet, dispenses the insect eggs on the diet, and seals the tray. Once the trays come off the machine, they are placed on a cart for transfer to and holding in a larval rearing room. The cart that is currently used at the Biological Control and Mass Rearing Research Unit was developed in 1979 for use in rearing boll weevils. The cart is time consuming to fabricate, and the loading and unloading process is relatively inefficient. Therefore, an improved cart was developed that holds the trays vertically rather than horizontally, is 58% more efficient in the use of floor space, reduces fabrication labor costs by 60%, and reduces the amount of handling of the trays. This new cart will be of interest to individuals and organizations involved in mass rearing of insects.

Technical Abstract: Large numbers of the tobacco budworm, Helicoverpa virescens (Fabricus), the cotton bollowrm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), and the beet armyworm, Spodoptera Exigua (Hubner), are requied for host plant resistance studies, pesticide studies, production of microbials, and production of parasitoids. One of the most effective high capacity techniques for mass rearing lepidopterous insects involves the use of a form-fill-seal machine. This machine forms a tray, dispenses diet and eggs into the tray, and seals the tray. The trays are then placed on a cart for storage. The cart currently used to hold the trays is expensive to fabricate,and the loading and unloading process is relatively inefficient. A new holding cart has been developed that is 58% more efficient in floor utilization. The new cart is also approximately 60% less expensive to fabricate than the existing cart and allows for less handling.