A Simple Method for Controlled Experimentation on the Passage of Microorganisms through the Digestive Tract of Insects

Abstract

A relatively simple technique for controlled feeding of insects being employed in microbiological studies is presented. Expts. designed to study both the normal and the induced flora of stools from such insects can be materially advanced by the elimination of ordinary body contaminants. By mounting the insects on paraffin blocks we have been able to keep them alive in battery jars under completely controlled conditions for weeks at a time. The insect used was the cockroach Blaberus cranifer.