Flotation method for extracting insects from poultry manure samples

• Published in: Journal of medical entomology 1999, Vol.36 (1), p.121-123
• Main Authors: Tobin, P.C, Pitts, C.W
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alphitobius diaperinus; Analysis; Animals; Beetles; Biological and medical sciences; Carcinops pumilio; Coleoptera; extraction; flotation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Histeridae; Houseflies; Medically important nuisances and vectors, pests of stored products and materials: population survey and control; Methods; Musca domestica; Poultry industry; poultry manure; Securities; sucrose flotation; Tenebrio; Tenebrionidae; Vectors. Intermediate hosts
• ISSN: 0022-2585; 1938-2928
• DOI: 10.1093/jmedent/36.1.121

We examined the efficacy of a sucrose-based flotation method for extracting 3 prevalent insect species from poultry house manure: 3rd-instar Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae), Carcinops pumilio (Erichson) (Coleoptera: Histeridae) adults, and Alphitobius diaperinus (Panzer) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) adults. A 0.6 M sucrose solution in distilled water altered the specific gravity to 1.2 and caused the 3 species to float to the water surface for easy separation. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant effects of the solution volume to sample mass ratio on recovery rates (F = 35.96, P < 0.0001), but no differences in species-specific recovery rates (F = 0.97, P = 0.3824). Among samples agitated in a ratio of at least 3.2 ml solution per gram of sample mass, we observed neither significant ratio effects (F = 1.37, P = 0.2442) nor significant differences in species-specific recovery rates (F = 2.05, P = 0.1353); overall, we recovered 97.49 +/- 0.20% of all individuals of the 3 species. Our analyses demonstrated that sucrose-based flotation was a statistically valid method of collecting these species from poultry manure samples.