Photo credit: Flickr user Caramosca (CC BY-NC 2.0) ; https://flic.kr/p/2bLPu4q
Container Modification
One advantage of using Plodia as a model organism is that the starting equipment to initiate a lab stock can easily be obtained from your local general store. Since Plodia is a common agricultural and household pest, containment and careful handling are important to prevent an outbreak. The main culture vessels are a stock container and an oviposition jar. Below, we illustrate simple modification to ensure containment while still allowing ventilation and egg collection, respectively.
Plodia larvae are notoriously masterful at escaping. They can also digest plastic bags made out of low-density polyethylene (LDPE). Do NOT use plastic bags as sole containment.
Plodia larvae are notoriously masterful at escaping. They can also digest plastic bags made out of low-density polyethylene (LDPE). Do NOT use plastic bags as sole containment.
Stock ContainerThe stock container needs to be airtight to prevent egg dispersal and larval escape while still allowing air exchange and maintaining ambient humidity inside. It must also be able to support the growing (egg and larval) and reproductive (adult) stages. Ventilation is provided by drilling a 1-2 cm diameter hole in the lid of the airtight container and covering it with a copper mesh. To do this, a soldering iron is used to melt the plastic lid to make complete contact with the mesh.
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Oviposition JarOviposition jar is used for passing stock into a new diet. Plodia eggs are about 0.3 to 0.5 mm. Since they tend to adhere to the plastic wall due to electrostatic effects, a glass mason jar is preferred. The steel mesh is large enough to allow eggs to be collected by inverting and tapping while still retaining the adults and residual food inside the jar.
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Culture Condition
When Plodia cultures are kept in a humidified chamber with the following conditions, their life cycle is around 25 days.
They can thrive in room temperature (22-24'C) with no humidification, however it will slow down their life cycle and the adult emergence may not be as synchronized.
- Temperature: 28'C
- Humidity: 75-80%
- Light/dark cycle: 16/8hr
They can thrive in room temperature (22-24'C) with no humidification, however it will slow down their life cycle and the adult emergence may not be as synchronized.
Diet
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The following is the recipe for Plodia culture rearing. Most of these ingredients are easily found in any supermarket. Around a 45 g diet is needed for each box and one batch of food (914 g) should suffice for approximately 20 passages. Use multiple airtight containers (without vents) to divide one batch of food. Closing and opening the container will make the food dry which potentially leads to culture mold infection. Methods:
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Plodia Diet Recipe
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