Rearing and Colony cages For Mosquitos and other Insects

Mosquito Mass Rearing Cages (MRC) are custom made. Three standard mosquito rearing cages are available immediately:

i) large MRC cage (assembled) are 200 cm x 100 cm x 20 cm (l x h x w).

ii) Standard medium MRC Type 1 "IAEA" (100 cm x 100 cm x 10 cm; FAO/IAEA, 2020), and

iii) extended medium MRC Type 2  (100 cm x 100 cm x 20 cm;  l x h x w). Mosquito / Insect cages of any other dimension (see e.g. an example for a "desktop" cage below) or including other features can be manufactured upon request (please get in contact).

• They have adjustable rubber feet for placement on the floor, bench or table, and medium/large cages can also be suspended from the ceiling or in a rack system within a colony room, allowing for space and service efficient layout in medium to large production facilities (and reducing ant infestation). Angles if insect rearing cages can be adjusted via adjustable legs or ceiling hooks to facilitate drainage (towards the back).
• A spraying nozzle system, easily connectable to a standard water hose, can be used to conveniently rinse the insect cage and/or rewet the creped oviposition paper. Crepped paper roles can be attached through openings (on both sides) for convenient routine collection of eggs.
• Mesh (50µm or custom) is properly sealed but still easy to remove (Velcro) to allow addition of larvae and adjustment of cage mesh size to species / replacement / repair. Versions with magnetic strips or other screen fixation means are feasible.
• The sugar feeder system (males) for mosquito cages is quick release and dishwasher safe for easy maintenance (from the outside).
• Blood ports (female) can be round or rectangular, one or many, to match your blood source dimensions ("sausauge" to "baloons") in mosquito rearing cages.
• The mosquito rearing cages are partially disassembled to ensure a small shipping volume (at lower shpping costs), but can be easily reassembled with a minimum number of screws (e.g. 12 per large MRC).

We are happy to customize the insect rearing / colony cage design to meet your specific (research) needs, e.g. for plant-insect interaction studies we can replace the top (blood ports) with highly translucent polycarbonate panels - allowing for plant illumination. Please contact us if you would like specific information about the mosquito cage or if you are looking for custom insect rearing mesh cages to suit your specific facility or research program.

Custom-made Cages for Insect Research. Various sizes and configurations of insect cages are available to fit your climate chambers / current lab setup, rigid or collapsible, with collection or supply trays, different net colors/screen sizes, etc. "All net" versions or partially with acrylic side panels. Insect cages can hold bottom panels for "sunken" potting holes (with drainage system) and transparent top panels for insect cages with plants - allowing for illumination. Access doors, entry holes for cables, fans, feeders, etc. can be fitted / designed as required by researchers. Contact us to discuss your custom insect cage design, steps to prototyping and production, and pricing. Consider the small insect release cages for insect transport solutions, alliquots.

INSECT TRANSPORT Cages AND RELEASE CAGES

Insect rearing cages, also known as insect colony cages or oviposition cages, are typically used in research facilities to house and study flying insects in a controlled environment. They are specifically designed to provide a safe, secure and standardized habitat for insect colonies while allowing researchers to observe and manipulate the insects as needed and/or harvest egg deposits. As a result, many specific insect cage designs have been developed and used for different species. Here we describe some common uses for insect rearing cages beyond the mosquito mass rearing tasks described above:

• Insect Behavior: Insect cages can be used to observe and record insect behavior, such as mating rituals, feeding patterns, and communication. Plants can be placed in (large) cages with translucent top panels to observe pollination and flower selection, herbivory etc. 
• Experimentation with insects: Researchers can use insect rearing boxes to conduct experiments on the effects of various factors such as temperature, humidity, light and food, plants or predators on insect growth, development and behavior.
• Breeding Insects: In addition to rearing insects, insect cages can be used to breed insects for research purposes, such as studying the genetics or physiology of insect populations.
• Entomological Environmental Monitoring: Insect cages can be used to test the side effects of herbicides and other environmental pollutants on insects. Similarly, the effectiveness of insecticides on insect populations can be tested.

Overall, insect rearing cages are an essential tool for entomologists and ecologists studying intra- and interpecific insect-insect, and insect-plant interactions, allowing researchers to create controlled environments in which to study and manipulate insect behavior and physiology. Consider our insect aspirator for controlled collection/transfer of flying insects between rearing cages.

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