Mass Production Cage for Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae)

Mass production is an important component of any pest or vector control program that requires the release of large number of insects. As part of efforts to develop an area-wide program involving the sterile insect technique (SIT) for the control of mosquitoes, the Insect Pest Control Laboratory of the Food and Agriculture Organization-International Atomic Energy Agency (FAOD IAEA Joint Division) has developed a mass production cage (Aedes MPC) for brood stock colonies in a mass production system for Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1895). A preliminary experiment using Plexiglas cages was carried out to estimate the impact of cage volume on egg productivity. Transparent Plexiglas cages of different dimensions but loaded with the same adult density were tested. Egg productivity (number of eggs laid per adult female) and adult survival were recorded and analyzed. According to the results, the optimal volume of 100 liters has been chosen to develop the Aedes MPC. The numbers of adults introduced into the Aedes MPC did not affect the egg production and adult survival in comparison with the Plexiglas cage experiment data, confirming the possible use of Aedes MPC for mass-rearing procedures. Finally, the modification of Aedes MPC and creation of a new prototype model of MPC (Anopheles MPC) to effectively contain Anopheles arabiensis (Patton, 1905) adults is discussed with major changes pioneered to oviposition devices and systems for automatic collection of the eggs.