Insect Colonies: White Rats or White Elephants

Laboratory-reared insects have become the entomologist’s “white rats” because they are uniform, relatively inexpensive, continuously available, and comparable to their counterparts in nature. Extraordinary technological advances in insect rearing have made it possible for many entomologists to depend on centralized insectaries for their experimental populations. This convenient separation of field and laboratory contexts is justified by the precision and efficiency of controlled experimentation; however, the value of this research is severely limited if the results are not directly applicable to field populations. Therefore, this brief report was prepared to proffer strategies and identify resources for developing suitable colonies, maintaining them efficiently, and employing them appropriately for testing insecticides and other chemicals used to control arthropods.