A double-spiral maze and hi-resolution tracking pipeline to study dispersal by groups of minute insects.

ABSTRACT: Minute insects such as parasitic micro-wasps have high basic and applied importance for their widespread use as biocontrol agents. Their dispersal is a phenotype of particular interest. Classically, it is evaluated using field releases, but those are time consuming, costly, and their results highly variable, preventing high-throughput and repeatability. Alternatively, dispersal can be studied using small-scale assays, but those neglect important higher-scale processes. Consequently, proper evaluation of dispersal is often complicated or lacking in academic studies and biocontrol breeding programs. Here we introduce a new method, the double-spiral maze, that allows the study of spatial propagation of groups of micro-wasps at relevant scales (several hours and meters), retaining high through

SUBMITTER: Cointe M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10063622 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature