Animal husbandry – Entomological culture device
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-30
2003-04-22
Jordan, Charles T. (Department: 3644)
Animal husbandry
Entomological culture device
Reexamination Certificate
active
06550419
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved arthropod diet packaging, presentation, and delivery system for the feeding or oviposition of arthropods. In particular, the invention is directed to an improved diet delivery system having a diet-filled reservoir covered with a stretchable membrane, wherein the reservoir further has diet-filled outwardly projecting protrusions formed in the stretchable membrane, which protrusions are in fluid communication with the reservoir. The invention is also directed to methods of making the diet delivery system of the invention. The arthropod diet delivery system is suitable for mass production of arthropods at a reasonable cost for uses including as biological control agents.
2. Description of the Art
Biological control is recognized as one of the best alternatives to the use of chemical insecticides for controlling insect pests. Use of beneficial arthropod predators and parasites for biological control on a large scale as an alternative to pesticides depends on the ability to mass produce large quantities of viable and biologically fit arthropods at a reasonable cost. Rearing of beneficial arthropods on their natural hosts/prey or on unnatural factitious hosts is too expensive to allow large scale use of beneficial arthropods in commercial agriculture. Accordingly, artificial diets or growth media and effective diet packaging/presentation/ delivery systems are required for mass production at reasonable cost.
The Review Article by A. C. Cohen, D. A. Nordlund and R. A. Smith, “Mass Rearing of Entomophagous Insects and Predaceous Mites: Are the Bottlenecks Biological, Engineering, Economic, or Cultural?, ”
Biocontrol News and Information
, 20 (3): 85N-90N (1999) provides a detailed discussion of barriers to overcome in successful mass rearing of natural enemies. These include: development of nutritionally adequate artificial diets, suitable packaging for the diets, nondestructive handling of insects and mites, adequate moisture, prevention of microbial contamination of diet or insects living in close association prevention of loss of genetic fitness, adequate ventilation, appropriate thermal conditions, appropriate lighting, accommodation for moulting, oviposition sites, and accommodation for newly-closed first instars that are extremely vulnerable to desiccation and starvation.
High quality semi-solid artificial diets for mass rearing of arthropods at a reasonable cost have been described. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,834,177 and 5,945,271 to Cohen describe semi-solid artificial diets for rearing entomophages (predatory arthropods and parasitic insects) which comprise a mixture of (a) cooked whole egg, (b) a protein-lipid paste (e.g., a mixture of ground beef and beef liver), and (c) a liquid, wherein the cooked whole egg forms a sticky, stringy substrate that keeps the mixture in stable form. The diet provides nutrients effective for supporting the growth of larvae of entomophages from the time of hatching until pupation and also provides nutrients effective for rearing entomophages which have predaceous adult stages. This diet parallels the texture and consistency of the insides of the natural prey, and is particularly suitable for rearing insect predators that pre-digest their prey and must recapture their digestive enzymes and ingest the digested, liquified medium to complete their digestion (extra-oral digestion). The diet may be used as a fresh semi-solid diet mixture or as a freeze-dried and reconstituted semi-solid diet. The diet may also be used as a supplement in the artificial diet for phytophagous (plant-eating) insects that supplement their plant-eating habits with insect consumption. Exemplary entomophages reared on the growth media include
Chrysoperla carnea
Stephens/Chrysopidac (lacewings);
Geocoris punctipes
(Say)/Lygaeidae (big eyed bug);
Serangium parcesetosum; Orius insidiosus
; and
Perillus bioculatus
and
Podisus maculiventris
(which are both predatory stink bugs in the family Pentatomidae).
A. C. Cohen and L. K. Smith (
Biological Control
13:49-54 (1998)) report production of 15 continuous generations of green lacewings,
Chrysoperla rufilabris
Burmeister (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), using the semi-solid diet of U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,177.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,235,528 B1 to Cohen describes semi-solid artificial diets or arthropods, including zoophagous arthropods and phytophagous arthropods including facultatively zoophagous phytophages. In one aspect, the growth medium is composed of a mixture of cooked egg, liquid, and carbohydrate source. In a second aspect, the growth medium is composed of a plant-based phytophage diet which includes cooked egg yolk or cooked whole egg. In a third aspect, the growth medium is composed of a mixture of cooked egg, liquid, and carbohydrate source in admixture with a plant-based phytophage diet which includes cooked egg yolk or cooked whole egg. The diets may be used as fresh or freeze-dried and reconstituted semi-solid diets. Exemplary arthropods fed on a selected diet included the entomophage
Chrysoperla rufilabris
(green lacewling) and
Lygus hesperus
Knight and
Lygus lineolaris
(facultatively zoophagous phytophages)
Semi-solid meat-based artificial diets have been described for rearing
Geocoris punctipes
(Say) in publications by A. C. Cohen,
Journal of Economic Entomology
, 78:1173-1175 (1985); A. C. Cohen and N. M. Urias,
The Southwestern Entomotologist
, 11:171-176 (1986); and A. C. Cohen and R. T. Staten in
Applications of Genetics to Arthropods of Biological Control Significance
, Eds. S. K. Narang et al., CRC Press, Inc., Chapter 7, pp. 121-132 (1994)). De Clercq et al. (
Entomophaga
37:149-157 (1992) and Biological Control 12:137-142 (1998)) describe an artificial insect diet for rearing the predatory stinkbugs
Podisus maculiventris
and
Podisus sagitta
using the meat-based diet of Cohen (1985) with added fresh (raw, liquid) egg yolk. Saavedra et al. (
Med Fac Landbouww Univ Gent
61(
3
a
):767-772 (1996) describe an artificial insect diet for
Podisus nigrispinus
based on the bovine meat diet developed by Cohen (1985, supra) having added bee's honey, brewer's yeast, fresh egg yolk, and Wesson's salt.
The problem of packaging an artificial arthropod diet is complicated by the need, in most cases, to maintain both moisture and a barrier to microbial attack while still keeping the diet accessible and phagostimulatory to the insects (Cohen et al., 1999, supra). Standard techniques for packaging diets for presentation and delivery to arthropods include packaging the diet in a membrane such as Parafilm® (a flexible, moldable self-sealing, odorless, moisture resistant, thermoplastic, semi-transparent, and practically colorless membrane). The packaged medium can be sterilized and will remain sterile for subsequent use for rearing the target arthropod.
The packaged diet can be presented to the arthropods in a shape and wall thickness that simulates natural prey. Cohen, 1985, supra, and Cohen and Urias, 1986, supra, report good production of larvae with a diet delivery system using a single layer of Parafilm® (stretched to 3-fold its normal width) wrapped around the meat-based semi-solid diet in cylindrical form and pressure-scaled along the longitudinal seam. Cohen and Staten, 1994, supra, report using flattened packets made of stretched Parafilm to contain the diet.
Cohen and Smith, 1998, supra, report feeding packets formed by sandwiching the semi-solid diet in two Parafilm® layers that were stretched to about three times their original length and width (i.e., as 45-micron-thick membranes). The membranes were scaled around the diet to form a flat sachet. U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,177 reports using Parafilm® stretched to about 15-20 microns thick.
Packaging of small volumes of liquid artificial diets in a thin membrane or coating using encapsulation or coating techniques, for use in rearing or oviposition of predators of harmful insects has been reported. In these methods, a capsule, a hemispherical well in a s
Cohen Allen C.
Harsh Daniel K.
Smith Rebecca A.
Jordan Charles T.
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of
Zerr John W.
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