Disease testing and prevention in home rearing

[Ryan]

Hello!

I am attempting to rear insects for the first time without a background and I am quite eager to do it correctly. I am starting with monarchs (Danaus plexippus) and American Painted lady (vanessa cardui). Any advice that you provide is appreciated and I will implement it. I am willing to do whatever it takes to monitor and prevent disease. I understand how much work it will be.

I want to purchase a microscope specifically to monitor for OE (Ophryocystis elektroscirrha), but would like to order something that would allow me to monitor for future diseases later on in other insects. Buy once cry once. Do you have recommendations for a type or microscope to order? I know that I need 10x for oe, but i know nothing else. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Where might someone without a background be able to access academic documentation related to the research of disease in butterflies? Thanks

[kevinkk]

My experiences with larval pathogens with several species have resulted in little new information, keeping your environment for the animals
clean will go far. The times I have had sick larva, have been for the most part, a mystery, one year, all is well, the next year, something
shows up.
Maybe you can identify issues like the "black vomit", or withering larva. The first time I had real problems, I turned to the group and there are
few answers, other than keeping it clean. I was fortunate to have a response by a breeder that gave me copious information about his methods
using Oxine as a disinfectant, which did save a couple Hyalophora larva, but nobody had a name for the pathogen.
Often we try rearing in situations not optimal, and much different than the same insects would encounter in the wild, in respect to temperatures,
humidity and food plants.
Perhaps I am missing your point, but I gave up on fixing things, and simply try to prevent problems in the first place.

[adamcotton]

The well known butterfly breeder Nigel Venters had a theory that most diseases were caused by lowered immunity of the larvae being reared under suboptimal and stressful conditions, and that the pathogens mostly naturally occur in small numbers in healthy larvae, but stress causing lowered immunity enables the pathogens to multiply when the larval immune system can no longer control them.

Adam.

[livingplanet3]

Maybe you can identify issues like the "black vomit", or withering larva...

I've not had any issues with it in larvae that I've captive-reared, but I've occasionally seen blackened, liquified caterpillars in the wild that have been infected by baculovirus. Several years ago, I saw a number of Papilio polyxenes larvae succumb to it, on some fennel I had growing in the backyard.
These viruses are specific to arthropods, and in particular, Lepidoptera -

https://www.science.org/content/article ... lar-zombie

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baculoviridae

[kevinkk]

The well known butterfly breeder Nigel Venters had a theory that most diseases were caused by lowered immunity of the larvae being reared under suboptimal and stressful conditions, and that the pathogens mostly naturally occur in small numbers in healthy larvae, but stress causing lowered immunity enables the pathogens to multiply when the larval immune system can no longer control them.

This is exactly what the breeder who gave me my information claimed, that sub-lethal pathogens caused virtually all conditions typically attributed to inbreeding, and after he used his methods on "inbred" animals, they were invigorated.