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Rearing and Long-Term Maintenance of Eristalis tenax Hoverflies for Research Studies

With an estimated 6000 species worldwide, hoverflies are ecologically important as alternative pollinators to domesticated honeybees. However, they are also a useful scientific model to study motion vision and flight dynamics in a controlled laboratory setting. As the larvae develop in organically p...

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Autores principales: Nicholas, Sarah, Thyselius, Malin, Holden, Marissa, Nordström, Karin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MyJove Corporation 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6101274/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29863660
http://dx.doi.org/10.3791/57711
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author Nicholas, Sarah
Thyselius, Malin
Holden, Marissa
Nordström, Karin
author_facet Nicholas, Sarah
Thyselius, Malin
Holden, Marissa
Nordström, Karin
author_sort Nicholas, Sarah
collection PubMed
description With an estimated 6000 species worldwide, hoverflies are ecologically important as alternative pollinators to domesticated honeybees. However, they are also a useful scientific model to study motion vision and flight dynamics in a controlled laboratory setting. As the larvae develop in organically polluted water, they are useful models for investigating investment in microbial immunity. While large scale commercial breeding for agriculture already occurs, there are no standardized protocols for maintaining captive populations for scientific studies. This is important as commercial captive breeding programs focusing on mass output during peak pollination periods may fail to provide a population that is consistent, stable and robust throughout the year, as is often needed for other research purposes. Therefore, a method to establish, maintain and refresh a captive research population is required. Here, we describe the utilization of an artificial hibernation cycle, in addition to the nutritional and housing requirements, for long term maintenance of Eristalis tenax. Using these methods, we have significantly increased the health and longevity of captive populations of E. tenax compared to previous reports. We furthermore discuss small scale rearing methods and options for optimizing yields and manipulating population demographics.
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spelling pubmed-61012742018-09-11 Rearing and Long-Term Maintenance of Eristalis tenax Hoverflies for Research Studies Nicholas, Sarah Thyselius, Malin Holden, Marissa Nordström, Karin J Vis Exp Environmental Sciences With an estimated 6000 species worldwide, hoverflies are ecologically important as alternative pollinators to domesticated honeybees. However, they are also a useful scientific model to study motion vision and flight dynamics in a controlled laboratory setting. As the larvae develop in organically polluted water, they are useful models for investigating investment in microbial immunity. While large scale commercial breeding for agriculture already occurs, there are no standardized protocols for maintaining captive populations for scientific studies. This is important as commercial captive breeding programs focusing on mass output during peak pollination periods may fail to provide a population that is consistent, stable and robust throughout the year, as is often needed for other research purposes. Therefore, a method to establish, maintain and refresh a captive research population is required. Here, we describe the utilization of an artificial hibernation cycle, in addition to the nutritional and housing requirements, for long term maintenance of Eristalis tenax. Using these methods, we have significantly increased the health and longevity of captive populations of E. tenax compared to previous reports. We furthermore discuss small scale rearing methods and options for optimizing yields and manipulating population demographics. MyJove Corporation 2018-05-19 /pmc/articles/PMC6101274/ /pubmed/29863660 http://dx.doi.org/10.3791/57711 Text en Copyright © 2018, Journal of Visualized Experiments http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visithttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
spellingShingle Environmental Sciences
Nicholas, Sarah
Thyselius, Malin
Holden, Marissa
Nordström, Karin
Rearing and Long-Term Maintenance of Eristalis tenax Hoverflies for Research Studies
title Rearing and Long-Term Maintenance of Eristalis tenax Hoverflies for Research Studies
title_full Rearing and Long-Term Maintenance of Eristalis tenax Hoverflies for Research Studies
title_fullStr Rearing and Long-Term Maintenance of Eristalis tenax Hoverflies for Research Studies
title_full_unstemmed Rearing and Long-Term Maintenance of Eristalis tenax Hoverflies for Research Studies
title_short Rearing and Long-Term Maintenance of Eristalis tenax Hoverflies for Research Studies
title_sort rearing and long-term maintenance of eristalis tenax hoverflies for research studies
topic Environmental Sciences
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6101274/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29863660
http://dx.doi.org/10.3791/57711
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