Patent Application
20200275643
The present disclosure relates generally to the mass-rearing of insects. More specifically, but not by way of limitation, this disclosure relates to devices and methods for separating insect larvae from egg hatching debris.
The mass-rearing of insect larvae can be very time and labor intensive. To produce insect larvae, insect eggs are flooded in a solution (e.g., water plus yeast) and left for a number of hours in a container (e.g., a jar) at an appropriate temperature to allow for the desired number of larvae to hatch. A technician would then perform the difficult task of separating the hatched larvae from the egg hatching debris (e.g., the egg casings and the non-egg debris, such as mosquito body parts) in order to conduct a smooth and accurate larvae counting/allocation operation. Separating the hatched larvae from the egg hatching debris would typically be done by transferring the hatched larvae and the debris from the container to a tray for a technician to hand pluck the larvae from the egg hatching debris. This method often involved significant amounts of human labor and time, such as manually moving the hatched larvae and solution from the container to the tray, hand separating the hatched larvae from the egg casings and the non-egg debris, etc.
Various examples are described for devices and methods for egg hatching and larvae separation. One example device includes a fluid-tight container, wherein the fluid-tight container comprises a base having a first portion and a second portion; at least one wall enclosing the base and coupled to the base to form a fluid-tight seal; wherein the first portion of the base comprises a first color and defines a recess; and wherein the second portion of the base comprises a second color darker than the first color.
One example method includes providing a fluid-tight container and a liquid disposed in the fluid-tight container, wherein the fluid-tight container comprises a base having a first portion and a second portion; at least one wall enclosing the base and coupled to the base to form a fluid-tight seal; wherein the first portion of the base comprises a first color and defines a recess; and wherein the second portion of the base comprises a second color darker than the first color; dispensing a plurality of insect eggs into the recess of the fluid-tight container; and removing at least one larvae from the second portion of the fluid-tight container, the at least one larvae having hatched from an insect egg of the plurality of insect eggs.
These illustrative examples are mentioned not to limit or define the scope of this disclosure, but rather to provide examples to aid understanding thereof. Illustrative examples are discussed in the Detailed Description, which provides further description. Advantages offered by various examples may be further understood by examining this specification.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more certain examples and, together with the description of the example, serve to explain the principles and implementations of the certain examples.
Examples are described herein in the context of devices and methods for egg hatching and larvae separation. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following description is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of examples as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same reference indicators will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or like items.
In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the examples described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another.
When mass rearing insects, it may be desirable to separate insect larvae (or simply “larvae”) from egg debris without the need for manual separation by a user. Examples according to this disclosure can provide for the separation of insect larvae from insect egg hatching debris by the insect larvae themselves using the instinct of the larvae to flee from stimuli.
In an illustrative example, mosquito eggs are placed into a fluid-tight container that contains a liquid. This example fluid-tight container has a base that is divided into two adjacent sections: the first section is colored white and includes a recess where the mosquito eggs may be initially deposited, and a second section that is colored black. The base also has a slope from the recess up to the second portion. Thus, as the mosquito larvae hatch, they will move out of the recess, up the inclined slope, and into the second portion due to the larvae's inclination to hide in the black section because of the section's darker color.
In this example, the fluid-tight container may include various other features that may help encourage the larvae to leave the recess, thereby separating themselves from the egg hatching debris. The fluid-tight container has a light source that shines light into the first section of the container. Because mosquito larvae are startled by the light stimulus, they will move away from the light source and out of the first section.
In addition, the fluid-tight container has a vibration generator coupled to the first portion to output a mechanical vibration that disturbs the larvae and encourages them to move away from the vibration. The vibration may also encourage the hatched eggs and debris to settle, which may leave more room for the unhatched eggs. Additionally, a heat source, such as a heating pad, may be positioned under the first section along with a temperature measuring device, such as a temperature probe, in order to measure and maintain a temperature of the liquid in the container. Heating the first section may encourage the insect larvae eggs to hatch faster and more synchronously. A temperature gradient in the system due to heating the first section may cause the larvae to move toward the second section of the container. A computing device may be in communication with the light source, vibration generator, heat source, and temperature probe to control those devices.
Each of these features (e.g., the color of the first section versus the color of the second section, the light source, the vibration generator, and the heat source) would help to separate the larvae if used on its own. However, such a configuration as is described above incorporating each of the features into a single device encourages the larvae to hatch from the mosquito eggs, to leave the first section, and to move into the second section. As a result, the larvae separate themselves from the eggs and the egg hatching debris so a user does not have to manually separate each individual larvae from the debris. After the larvae have separated themselves from the debris, the larvae may be removed quickly and efficiently from the fluid-tight container and moved en masse into another rearing container.
This illustrative example is given to introduce the reader to the general subject matter discussed herein and the disclosure is not limited to this example. The following sections describe various additional non-limiting examples and examples of systems and methods for egg hatching and larvae separation.
Referring now to
The at least one wall 104 is coupled to the base 102 to form a fluid-tight seal between the base 102 and the wall 104. In this example, the at least one wall 104 is coupled to an edge, or edges depending on the shape, of the base 102; however, the at least one wall 104 may be coupled to any suitable location of the base 102. In some examples, the at least one wall 104 may be coupled to the base 102 by using a glue or a sealant, by welding or melting the base 102 and the at least one wall 104 together, by fastening the base 102 and at least one wall 104 together using various fasteners such as screws, bolts, etc., by molding the base 102 and the at least one wall 104 out of a single piece of material, or by any other suitable method of coupling the at least one wall 104 to the base 102.
A liquid 112 may be included within the fluid-tight container 100. The liquid 112 may have a depth of substantially equal to or less than 0.5 inch or any other suitable depth to permit insect larvae to hatch and move away from any egg hatching debris without drowning in the liquid 112. In some examples, the liquid 112 may be fresh water, saltwater, a solution of water and yeast, or any other suitable liquid 112 or mixture to support the hatching of the larvae.
The base 102 is divided into two contiguous portions, a first portion 106 and a second portion 108 that meet as shown in
The first portion 106 defines a recess 110 into which insect eggs may be deposited and that will generally keep the insect eggs in place. While only a single recess 110 is shown in the example in
In this example, the first portion 106 and the second portion 108 are differently colored: the first portion 106 is white while the second portion 108 is black; however, any suitable color combinations may be employed. As defined by the hue-saturation-value (HSV) color scheme, a color may be said to be white or substantially white if it has a lightness substantially at a maximum HSV lightness value and a minimum saturation value, and a color may be said to be black or substantially black if it has a lightness value substantially at a minimum HSV lightness value. In some examples, the color of the second portion 108 is darker than the color of the first portion 106 meaning that the second color has a color content closer to black than the first color. For example, in the HSV color scheme, one color is darker than another if its brightness value is less than the other color. Other color schemes may be employed in some examples, but some insects are attracted by darkness as it offers a place to hide and repelled by light, thus colors for the portions may be selected to take advantage of such preferences. In this example, the color of the second portion 108 attracts the hatched insect larvae resulting in the hatched larvae moving to the second portion 108 and separating themselves from the egg debris located in the recess 110 and in the first portion 106. It should be understood that the use of the HSV color scheme is merely illustrative, and any suitable coloring scheme to determine relative shadings between different colors may be employed.
Referring now to
As discussed above with respect to
Referring now to
Referring now to
In this example, one wall 304 of the fluid-tight container 300 includes a translucent portion 305 located near the first portion 306, though any suitable number of translucent portions 305 may be included in any number of walls 304 in the fluid-tight container 300. As may be seen in
In this example, the fluid-tight container 300 includes a vibration generator 314 that outputs a mechanical vibration. The vibration generator 314 may include vibration motors such as eccentric rotating mass (ERM) vibration motors, linear resonant actuators (LRA), an audio speaker, or any other suitable device capable of outputting a mechanical vibration. The vibration generator 314 is positioned to output the mechanical vibration to the first portion 306. For example, in
The fluid-tight container 300 shown in
In this example, the fluid-tight container 300 includes an inclined slope 318 to assist with the separation of the insect larvae from the egg hatching debris. Some species of insect larvae instinctively climb slopes, thus such a feature may encourage movement of the larvae towards the second portion 308. The inclined slope 318 may be formed as a single unit with the base 302 and/or the at least one wall 304 or the inclined slope 318 may be a separate piece that may be placed into the fluid-tight container 300 or attached to the base 302 and/or the at least one wall 304. In the case where the inclined slope 318 is a separate piece, the inclined slope 318 may be made out of the same material or out of different material than the rest of the fluid-tight container 300. In this example, the inclined slope 318 extends from an edge of the recess 110 to the edge of the second portion 308. In some examples, the inclined slope 318 may begin spaced apart from the recess 110. The base 302 of the second portion 308 is sized such that there is no height difference between the edge of the inclined slope 318 and the second portion 308, though a suitable height difference between the edge of the inclined slope 318 and the second portion 308 may be incorporated into the fluid-tight container. In further examples, the end of the inclined slope 318 may terminate before meeting the second portion 308 such that there is a flat surface of the first portion 306 adjacent to the inclined slope 318 and located between the inclined slope 318 and the second portion 308. The incline of the inclined slope 318 may be any angle suitable for permitting insect larvae to travel across the slope toward the second portion 308.
In this example, the fluid-tight container 300 includes a heat source 320, such as a resistive heating element, a heating pad, an incandescent light bulb, or any other suitable device that may heat the liquid found in the fluid-tight container 300. The heat source 320 may be positioned proximate to or attached to the fluid-tight container 300. For example, the heat source 320 shown in
In some examples, the fluid-tight container 300 may include or be controlled by a computing device 317 that may control various features of the fluid-tight container 300. For example, the computing device 317 may turn the light source 312 on or off or adjust the brightness of the light source 312. It may turn the vibration generator 314 on or off or adjust the intensity of the vibration generator 314. The computing device 317 may also turn the heat source 320 on or off or adjust the output of the heat source 320 based on signals and information received by a processor in the computing device 317 from the temperature measuring device 316 in order to regulate the temperature of the liquid found in the fluid-tight container 300. In some examples, however, the computing device 317 may provide more particularized functionality and greater control over devices used with the fluid-tight container 300 such as permitting synchronized application of the various stimuli on a programmed schedule. While
Additionally, chemicals may be used to encourage larvae separation from the egg hatching debris. For example, a chemical deterrent 322, e.g., ethanol or alcohol, may be added to the liquid near the recess 310 or may be applied or attached to a surface of the first portion 306. Or a chemical attractant 324, e.g., a food product, may be added to the liquid found in the second portion 308 or may be applied or attached to a surface of the second portion 308. In some examples, both a chemical deterrent 322 and a chemical attractant 324 may be used to encourage larvae separation.
Many of the features discussed above provide stimuli to encourage larvae separation from egg hatching debris, but examples according to this disclosure are not limited to those examples listed above. It should be understood that any suitable stimuli may be used to help encourage the larvae to separate from the debris. For example, bubbles generated by placing an air pump under the surface of the liquid, cold temperatures generated by an air conditioner or cooling system, shaking generated by the vibration generator 314 or by a moveable base located under the fluid-tight container, mechanical stirring generated using a rod inserted into the liquid, and electric current generated by a generator may all be used as stimuli to encourage larvae separation.
Referring now to
The dividing member 412 extends over the base 402 and between two wall sections of the at least one wall 404. In this example, the dividing member 412 extends over the area of the base 402 were the first portion 406 and the second portion 408 meet. In further examples, the dividing member 412 may extend over only the first portion 406, over only the second portion 408, or over both the first portion 406 and the second portion 408. The dividing member 412 may be formed as a single unit with the two wall sections of the at least one wall 404 or may be attached to the two wall sections after the fluid-tight container 400 is formed. The dividing member 412 is shown in
Referring now to
Referring now to
In some examples, the resealable hole 512 discussed in relation to
Referring now to
In the example shown in
Referring now to
At block 910, a fluid-tight container 300 and a liquid contained in the fluid-tight container 300, as discussed above in relation to
At block 912, a plurality of insect eggs are dispensed into the fluid-tight container 300. In some examples, the eggs are dispensed into the recess 310. As discussed above, any suitably sized recess 310 may be incorporated into the first portion 306 to receive the dispensed eggs and permit larvae to hatch from those eggs. The eggs may be dispensed manually by a user or by using an automated machine.
At block 914, additional features may be included with the fluid-tight container 300 to apply a stimulus, or in some examples to apply multiple stimuli, to the fluid-tight container 300 in order to assist with separating larvae from egg hatching debris. For example, light may be emitted by at least one light source 312 positioned to emit light through the translucent portion 305 of at least one wall 304 of the fluid-tight container 300, as discussed above in relation to
The computing device 317 may be used to apply the stimulus or adjust the application of the stimulus. For example, the temperature measuring device 316 may output signals that include temperature information that is received by a processor in the computing device 317. The processor may then adjust the heat setting of the heat source 320 based on that temperature information. In some examples, the fluid-tight container 300 may include sensors that are able to monitor the various stimuli applied to the fluid-tight container and send information relating to the stimuli to the processor to permit the computing device 317 to adjust the application of the stimuli.
Due to the construction of the fluid-tight container 300 and the application of any stimuli, the insect larvae are encouraged to separate themselves.
At block 916, at least one larvae hatched from an egg of the plurality of insect eggs dispensed into the fluid-tight container 300 is removed from the second portion 308 of the fluid-tight container 300. As discussed above, after the larvae hatch from the insect eggs dispensed in the first portion 306, they will move to the second portion 308. This is due in part to the coloring and construction of the fluid-tight container 300 as some insect larvae prefer to be in dark areas. Additionally, applying a stimuli, such as light from the light source 312 or mechanical vibration from the vibration generator 314, to the first portion 306 will encourage the larvae to move to the second portion 308 because insect larvae tend to flee from stimulation. The at least one larvae may be removed from the second portion 308 manually by a user, by the resealable drain 512 or the pump 612 as discussed above with respect to
For example, referring again to
At block 918, a processor 1010, discussed in further detail below in relation to
At block 920, the processor 1010 counts the larvae based on the sensor signals. In some examples, the processor 1010 increments a counter based on each sensed larvae passing the sensor. In some examples, the processor 1010 resets its counter before a new batch of larvae are hatched in the fluid-tight container 300; however, in some examples, the processor 1010 may maintain a running count of all sensed larvae from multiple batches or larvae.
Referring now to
The computing device 1000 also includes a communications interface 1030. In some examples, the communications interface 1030 may enable communications using one or more networks, including a local area network (“LAN”); wide area network (“WAN”), such as the Internet; metropolitan area network (“MAN”); point-to-point or peer-to-peer connection; etc. Communication with other devices may be accomplished using any suitable networking protocol. For example, one suitable networking protocol may include the Internet Protocol (“IP”), Transmission Control Protocol (“TCP”), User Datagram Protocol (“UDP”), or combinations thereof, such as TCP/IP or UDP/IP.
While some examples of methods and devices herein are described in terms of software executing on various machines, the methods and devices may also be implemented as specifically-configured hardware, such as field-programmable gate array (FPGA) specifically to execute the various methods. For example, examples can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in a combination thereof. In one example, a device may include a processor or processors. The processor includes a computer-readable medium, such as a random access memory (RAM) coupled to the processor. The processor executes computer-executable program instructions stored in memory, such as executing one or more computer programs. Such processors may include a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and state machines. Such processors may further include programmable electronic devices such as PLCs, programmable interrupt controllers (PICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), programmable read-only memories (PROMs), electronically programmable read-only memories (EPROMs or EEPROMs), or other similar devices.
Such processors may include, or may be in communication with, media, for example computer-readable storage media, that may store instructions that, when executed by the processor, can cause the processor to perform the steps described herein as carried out, or assisted, by a processor. Examples of computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, an electronic, optical, magnetic, or other storage device capable of providing a processor, such as the processor in a web server, with computer-readable instructions. Other examples of media include, but are not limited to, a floppy disk, CD-ROM, magnetic disk, memory chip, ROM, RAM, ASIC, configured processor, all optical media, all magnetic tape or other magnetic media, or any other medium from which a computer processor can read. The processor, and the processing, described may be in one or more structures, and may be dispersed through one or more structures. The processor may include code for carrying out one or more of the methods (or parts of methods) described herein.
The foregoing description of some examples has been presented only for the purpose of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Numerous modifications and adaptations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
Reference herein to an example or implementation means that a particular feature, structure, operation, or other characteristic described in connection with the example may be included in at least one implementation of the disclosure. The disclosure is not restricted to the particular examples or implementations described as such. The appearance of the phrases “in one example,” “in an example,” “in one implementation,” or “in an implementation,” or variations of the same in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same example or implementation. Any particular feature, structure, operation, or other characteristic described in this specification in relation to one example or implementation may be combined with other features, structures, operations, or other characteristics described in respect of any other example or implementation.
Use herein of the word “or” is intended to cover inclusive and exclusive OR conditions. In other words, A or B or C includes any or all of the following alternative combinations as appropriate for a particular usage: A alone; B alone; C alone; A and B only; A and C only; B and C only; and A and B and C.
