The Phenomenon of Autonarcosis in a Parasitic Wasp

Extract

In the laboratory culture of parasitic Hymenoptera it is a common practice to collect the adults from the large emergence cages into glass tubing with a power-driven aspirator. This glass tubing has an absorbent cotton plug at one end and the aspirator cork at the other. Depending upon the characteristics of the species being handled, from 100 to 400 individuals may be collected without impairment into a single tube before the aspirator cork is removed and replaced with another plug of absorbent cotton. The cotton plugs are then tightly fitted into each end of the tubing, and the volume of air space remaining between them amounts to approximately 38 ml. Parasites confined in this manner may be stored for brief periods if fed honey and held at cool temperatures. They are commonly packed in this fashion for transport to experimental field plots.