Insects are the largest group of Arthropods. There are over 800,000 different types of insects. Insects are very adaptable, living almost everywhere in the world. Common insects include the fly, beetle, butterfly, moth, dragonfly, bee, wasp and praying mantis. Insects have an exoskeleton that covers their entire body. An insect’s body consists of 3 parts: the head, thorax and abdomen.
Insects are beneficial as they pollinate crops, act as natural enemies of damaging pests, and produce useful products for humans. Also, they are harmful as major pets of food crops, vectors for transmitting deadly diseases, and cause damage to our urban infrastructure, environment, forest and natural resources. The study of insect ecology is important to understand their evolution and diversification and their influence on the functional and trophic links between different components of associated habitats.
The Insect Growth Chamber an example of environmental chamber provides a unique high volume solution for a wide variety of entomological studies and offers reliable results for insect rearing experts. Insect growth chamber helps in the behavioral study of insects under environmental conditions such as humidity, temperature and light. Phenol coated refrigeration coils of the insect growth chamber resist the corrosive effects of acids inherent in the rearing of insects.
Entomological studies may help in the prevention of insect borne diseases like malaria and dengue (e.g risk prediction of dengue vector which can be useful for developing dengue vector).
Many insects rely on energy reserves stored in the fall to fuel their breeding biology in the spring. As winter conditions change with climate change, these altered temperatures will affect the energetic of overwintering in many insects. Investigating these effects, using the climate control available in the insect growth chamber one can get the useful data/information that will be valuable for both conservation of biodiversity and the prediction and management of some pest insects.
Many insects migrate in response to both predictable and unpredictable habitat deterioration, using environmental cues to evaluate habitat quality. By examining the ecology and physiology of insect migration under controlled environmental condition, one can generate the data that will not only broaden the basic understanding of the process involved in migration but also allow examining possible consequences of climate change for migratory species.
Some Application areas where Insect growth chamber is useful;
- Entomological studies
- Developmental biology
- Conservation of biodiversity
- Plant and insect interaction
- Insect pathogen interaction
- Insecticide research
