Mosquito mass rearing technology: a cold-water vortex device for continuous unattended separation of Anopheles arabiensis pupae from larvae.
In mass rearing of anopheline mosquitoes, pupae are usually separated from larvae on a daily basis to prevent unwanted adult emergence from trays. Depending on the device and species, 2 physical characteristics have most often been used for separation: buoyant density and size. In this report, we describe a system for continuous separation of Anopheles arabiensis larvae from pupae based on the natural difference in buoyant density and behavior between the 2 stages. We determined that temperatures 4-15 degrees C caused neither mortality nor reduction in likelihood of pupation or emergence. Separation improved as temperatures decreased down to 4 degrees C. We devised and demonstrated a 15 degrees C water vortex separator that we anticipate can process approximately 1 million larvae and pupae per hour with a < 0.3% pupal contamination rate and which operates unattended.
Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, International Atomic Energy Agency, Wagramerstrasse 5, A-1400 Vienna, Austria.
Fabrizio
F
Balestrino
Jérémie R L
JR
Gilles
Sharon M
SM
Soliban
Anton
A
Nirschl
Quentin E
QE
Benedict
Mark Q
MQ
Benedict
D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles; D003080:Cold Temperature; D007814:Larva; D011679:Pupa