Insect Pupae sex separatOr

Pupae sex separation by size

VSI IR-604 Pupae sex separator. A successful application of the sterile insect technique and other strategies designed to eliminate large populations of insects relies on the efficient releases of competitive, sterile males into the natural habitat of the target species. As released sterile females do not contribute to the sterility of population in situ, systems for the separation of male from female individuals are needed. This is especially key for vector-transmitting species like mosquitoes, in which only females bite and transmit diseases.

While several genetic and transgenic approaches have been developed that permit male-female separation for some species, separation based on sexual size dimorphism continue to be a useful technique in the laboratory and in small factory settings for elimination of females. In general, female mosquitoes of many species such as Aedes and Culex but also Anopheles quadrimaculatus and A. albimanus are larger than males in the pupae stage.

VSI IR-604 Insect Sex Separator - Specifications

 

The size-based pupae sex separator system IR-604 is a versatile tool for entomologists working in mass rearing or research facilities. Our model is based on the classical larval-pupal separator (narrowing glass plates) but with a more convenient and efficient entering and washing/collection mechanism and three (four) levels of separation. See pdf document below for details/specifications of VSI IR-604 Pupae Sex Separator and a brief manual.

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VSI IR-604 (Pupae Sex Separator) - Specifications and Manual
VSI IR-604 Pupae Sex Separator SPECS v1.
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VSI IR-604 sex separators for insects - Details

Selected readings on Mechanical sex separation and size dimorphism of Insects

  • Carvalho, D. O., D. Nimmo, N. Naish, A. R. McKemey, P. Gray, A. Wilke, B. B, M. T. Marrelli, J. F. Virginio, L. Alphey, and M. L. Capurro. 2014. Mass Production of Genetically Modified Aedes aegypti for Field Releases in Brazil. jove e3579.
  • Gilles, J. R. L., M. F. Schetelig, F. Scolari, F. Marec, M. L. Capurro, G. Franz, and K. Bourtzis. 2014. Towards mosquito sterile insect technique programmes: Exploring genetic, molecular, mechanical and behavioural methods of sex separation in mosquitoes. Acta Tropica 132, Supplement:S178-S187
  • Fay, R., and H. Morlan. 1959. A mechanical device for separating the developmental stages, sexes and species of mosquitoes. Mosquito News 19:144-147.
  • Focks, D. A. 1980. An improved separator for the developmental stages, sexes, and species of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae). Journal of Medical Entomology 17:567-568.
  • Mertins, J. W., and H. C. Coppel. 1972. Seed Dockage Sieves for Sex-Separation of Pine Sawfly Cocoons. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 65:1424-1425.
  • Papathanos, P. A., H. C. Bossin, M. Q. Benedict, F. Catteruccia, C. A. Malcolm, L. Alphey, and A. Crisanti. 2009. Sex separation strategies: past experience and new approaches. Malaria journal 8:1.
  • Wormington, J. D., and S. A. Juliano. 2014. Sexually dimorphic body size and development time plasticity in Aedes mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae). Evolutionary Ecology Research 16:223.